Heroes in Love
by SilverDawn2010
Summary: Sonic and Amy are an item and Knuckles and Rouge are struggling with their feelings. But what does Tails think of all his friends pairing up? And what new scheme does Egghead have for these Heroes in Love? SonAmy and Knouge. A rewrite.
1. Always There

**This is my old, bad story, Heroes in Love, redone. For those of you who've read the old one, pretty please don't give away the ending if you remember it, okay? If you don't, too bad, I'm deleting my old one, so you can't look it up. :P As for the rest of the story, the plot may or may not follow my old one. I'm just going with the flow on this story and seeing where it takes me. **

**As far as the characters/pairings go: SonAmy and KnuxRouge, with some slight Tails/Cosmo angst and light Tails/Cream hurt/comfort. I was torn on which characters to put on the summary. As it is now, Sonic and Amy are already together (and they've just, and I do mean just, gotten together), Knuckles and Rouge aren't, this story is how I would picture them getting together.  
**

**A few more things: This is still set after my very first fanfic, Breaking the Sonic Barrier. That one I'm not too keen on, but I'm not going to rewrite it. Still the prequel to A Whole New World (which I AM proud of). Still set after Sonic X.  
**

**So, without further ado, here is my much improved story, Heroes in Love! Enjoy it! **

...xxx...

Chapter 1: Always There

...xxx...

She was running.

That was all Amy was aware of - just running, running, running, her rapidly pumping boot-clad feet propelling her, short, intense gasps, her heart pounding in a painful beat, the blurs of passing objects, ...but most of all, she was aware of her pursuer.

Yes, this girl, who had forever been the chaser, now found the tables turned, and this time she was running _away_, for her life. So she ran from the demon-like, twisted form of the love of her life, who she was quite sure was hot on her heels. She didn't dare turn around, but Amy could feel it's cold, electronic red eyes glaring at her, wanting, waiting to grab her.

It was growing closer; Amy could hear the hum of mechanical parts getting louder, almost resulting in a sonic boom - It was faster than she was. Amy had always been the slow one, the one with the short end of the stick and lack of skills in any chase. But this time, when she was being pursued, being slower could be deadly.

Amy had no idea even where in the world she was, but it didn't matter - she just had to get away, get to Sonic-

Cold, hard metal suddenly stopped Amy in her tracks and swept the girl off of her feet. But there was no romantic sense of being held bridal style - just red, cold, beady eyes, the iron grip of blue steel...

"SONIC!" Amy cried desperately as she tried to wiggle out of the robot's grip. "Please! Sonic! Help!"

"He is nothing," the robot's mechanical voice spat at her, "but a soft, fragile, weak creature. He cannot help you. And I will destroy him."

"No! Let me go!" Amy cried out again, and frantically reached for her hammer, but the iron grip of the robot was squeezing her too tightly, crushing her body as it took off again, at super sonic speed -

_"SONIC!"_

Her eyes snapped open and Amy let out another few labored breaths...only now she wasn't being squeezed by anything hard, but only gently surrounded by soft blankets.

_A dream. _

Another one. And every time that blasted Metal Sonic, chasing her, catching her_, _taking off, and the real Sonic was nowhere to be found. But no matter how many times it played in Amy's dream-like imagination, it'd always felt so real, and she fell for it every time.

Now sitting straight up with adrenaline flooding her veins, Amy brushed her sweaty bang quills out of her face with trembling fingers.

_Go back to sleep, Amy, it was just a dream. _

But no, her heart was racing too quickly for Amy to slip back into sleep. Besides, maybe she'd have that awful nightmare again...

She tossed her comforter to the end of her bed and swung her bare legs over one side before bringing herself to full height. Amy's modest light blue nightgown flowed down to mid-thigh, but it didn't restrict any movement as Amy made her way through the still house.

Pink furry feet shivered in protest as they padded their way across the cold wooden floor, before finally finding repose on the warmer, fuzzy mat in front of the window. It was too dark outside to see anything, yet no glaring red eyes pierced the inky blackness. Only a steady breeze ruffled the leaves and broke the stillness.

Yes, the wind. The wind would always be there.

_It wasn't in your dream. _

But that was just a dream. A product of her over active imagination. Amy was quite certain that the wind would always blow the way it needed to, for her.

_Because he promised me that he would. _

Still, while Amy was ecstatic that her and Sonic were now together, some part of her couldn't shake that speech that he had given her just yesterday, about how their relationship would always be shrouded in danger. That there would always be a threat that something could happen to her, or Sonic himself.

_"Being a hero, those are the side effects," _Sonic had told her.

Amy had said she already taken that into account, and that she wanted to be with him anyway. _"Even heroes need romance,"_ Amy had responded with a sly smile. _"To balance out all that fighting." _

And it was true. Whether Sonic had come to realize this or it was for some other reason that he'd decided to give in, Amy didn't know. But honestly, she didn't really care. Her and Sonic were together now, there would be no more fruitless chasing after him on her part, and Amy found herself more happy than she'd been in her life.

A glint from the moon illuminated the silver bracelet hanging loosely around her wrist and caught Amy's eye. Her own name engraved into the metal band stared back at her, and Amy had to smile as her heart warmed. She took the bracelet in her other hand and flipped it over, and her index finger brushed the tiny script in the corner that secretly held the initials STH enclosed in a heart.

It'd been a gift to her from Sonic himself, to show her that he really did care, but wanted to wait until they were older, since he wasn't quite ready. Amy had said that she'd wait for him, but for some reason, he'd changed his mind. _Probably him just being impatient again_, Amy thought fondly as a smile played at her lips. Yes, even though he was dating her now, he was still her Sonic: carefree, cocky, heroic, adventurous, impulsive, impatient, yet he had a heart, too. For her, yes, but also for strangers. He would rescue them at a second's notice.

_Just like he'll always rescue you, Amy. _

Amy pulled herself away from the window and headed back to her bed, the rush of adrenaline and fear replaced by a more gentle relaxed, assurance.

...xxx...

All it took was one scream, and he was up in a microsecond, focused green eyes scanning the perimeter of the house he was was standing on. He detected no threats, just a gentle breeze ruffling his quills. Still, the legendary hedgehog stood on edge for 10 whole seconds, just to be sure. But no, it must have been just a bad dream, something that Sonic couldn't help her with.

This was why Sonic had decided to spend the occasional night on Amy's roof, nestled between her chimney and the slant. Not to be a Peeping Tom, not to be a stalker or a pervert - but just in case anything did come for her, they'd have to deal with _him_ first.

Sometimes, like in stormy weather or if he was extra tired, Sonic would go sleep in a bed like a normal person, in a spare room at Tails' house, but normally he liked the freedom of sleeping outside, in the open air, in nature. And Amy's house was as good as any. After all, now that they were officially the most well-known item in Mobius (Amy had made sure of that), Sonic was keeping an extra careful eye on her. If she was used as an innocent hostage before they were dating, Sonic could only imagine what sort of crazy schemes Egghead was dreaming up for them now.

And that had been what had kept him back for so long, that was what was making him lose sleep at this very moment. That one day, she'd be hurt, all because of him. And he wouldn't be able to save her.

That was his greatest fear.

Now, Sonic had never been a worrier, as he dealt with problems as they came, but Sonic felt oddly anxious about the girl. She was just so innocent and he didn't want anything to happen to her. Then again, Amy gave him all sorts of new, indescribable feelings, most of them pleasant, of course, save for this anxiety.

But still, while having a relationship came with it's dangers, Sonic found the benefits far outweighed them. For now, Sonic had only the prettiest, sweetest, most lovely girl in the whole world as his girlfriend. And every time she so much as smiled at him, or her hand just _happened_ to find his, or how her lips were just so sweet when they kissed...it made it all so very worthwhile.

Confident that Amy was now safe, Sonic brought himself onto his back to rest, but his own sleep was now disturbed. Sonic let his quill-laced head fall back into his tan arms, but his eyes remained open and locked onto the diamonds glittering in the sky, his ears alert for another one of Amy's screams.

Shoot, he was too awake and jittery now.

A sigh escaped his lips and Sonic brought himself to his feet and jumped from the roof, and hit the ground running. He only took one quick glance back at her house, then let his sneaker-clad feet take him where they would. Even though Sonic did have excellent vision, it wasn't all that safe to run at night. Still, he just had to burn off all of his excess energy.

_You really shouldn't be worried, man. It was you who decided to change your mind and give in._

_I know. I really didn't sign up for this when I decided to take her out that one time. _

Sonic had initially done it to do something nice for Amy, but he'd ended up falling for her. In a big way. Of course, he'd cared about Amy before, but too many things had kept him back. His shyness and normal disgust with mushiness as well as his fear. But whatever, he'd made his decision to let Amy have him, and the hedgehog didn't regret it one bit.

Passing by Angel Island, Sonic took a quick glance by there, knowing he'd see a certain guardian sleeping away. Getting closer and hopping up to it, he did see a figure gracing the presence of the Master Emerald shrine, but unless echidnas had grown wings since Sonic had seen him last, that was not Knuckles.

Rouge.

_Hm, I wonder what she's doing up there?_ Sonic wondered sarcastically, but he wasn't curious enough to stop. After all, Knuckles was the one responsible and the guardian, though a bad one.

Sonic had often teased Knuckles about his bat girlfriend, if just to get him back for all the heck he'd gotten about Amy all these years, though he could never, ever picture the two of them getting together. Ever. They were just too different.

Now that most of his energy was burnt off, Sonic left the thief and the guardian to sort out their own problems and headed back to Amy's house, quite certain that he was a better guardian than Knuckles.

_'Cause, Ames, I'm always going to be there to save you. No matter what.  
_

...xxx...

**Not bad for an introduction. I know nothing really happens, but it's still early. So, hope you all liked this!  
**


	2. A Fighter, Not a Lover

**My wonderful, awesome reviewers: Jacklethekitsune, 01sonamy01, GalexiatheChao, IHeartSonAmy, Mana the Cat Magician, Crails123, cheese15624, Alyssacookie, KnuxandRouge4Ever: Glad to see you all are on board. I love all you guys! ;) I'm surprised you all actually _liked_ the old one. But I guess you really are your own worst critic! If that's the case, I'm going to keep the plot_ very_ similar to the original story, just add more details.  
**

** This chapter is still sort of an introduction, but it focuses on the other couple. I do apologize for how slow this story is at first, but it will pick up later, I promise. I just LOVE characterizations and so I can just write on and on and on and on and on about them. But anyway...this is a deep chapter. So hold on, kiddies...  
**

...xxx...**  
**

Chapter 2: A Fighter, Not a Lover

...xxx...

Night.

The time of day that was the best friend for both thieves and bats - or, at least for this bat, second best after diamonds.

A trained finger subconsciously reached for her neck to play with the said jewels draped around it. They seemed to tingle at her touch, but it was the feelings in her heart that gave Rouge pause.

_C'mon, Rouge, it's not like you've never been given a present before..._

But this time...it was different.

Because _he_ had given them to her.

Oh, why did it matter who had given them to her? They were diamonds, they were hers, they were pretty...what else mattered?

What mattered was that...she had feelings this time. Usually upon given a gift, Rouge would snatch it eagerly and then just take off, leaving the bewildered giver alone. This time, Rouge had been too shocked to do anything.

It had been the day after Valentine's Day, and Rouge had stooped so far as to help Pinky and Big Blue get together (for a Chaos Emerald, of course). Naturally, Sonic had succumbed and admitted his feelings(which was not at all surprising to Rouge, who knew all too well that men were not as strong as they thought they were once a pretty girl got involved) and Rouge had blackmailed the Chaos Emerald off of the hedgehog. Of course, that had ended up backfiring, and she'd been forced to fight an angry and stronger Sonic...until...

Out of nowhere, he had come. And he'd said words that had surprised her, even now...

Not that she hadn't heard the words before, not that the words themselves surprised her, but the feelings they gave her, _those_ stunned her.

He'd said, "_I've been looking for you._"

What? Since when did that idiot ever leave that blasted Emerald? Since when did he ever care about anything else? And his expression...it had been so unlike Knuckles, so tender...where had his walls gone?

Rouge had been too shocked to say anything.

And then...he'd given her a present. And Rouge had seen how hard it was for him to do it, saw him extend his arm almost grudgingly, his indigo eyes not daring to meet hers...saw how he seemed to hate everything about the gesture - the giving, the stooping, and...her? Did he really _hate _her? And why was that thought so upsetting?

Rouge never gave her heart away. Her body, yes, in certain situations, but not her heart. That muscle had been broken long ago, and Rouge had just deadened it, numbed the pain, and focused not on emotions, but on the games, the control, seeing men slobber over her. She relished that feeling, feeling wanted.

And yet...that's all she was, right? Simply a want. None of them had truly _cared _about her...she was just the object for their desires.

But really, what more could she hope for? Men were pigs. Rouge would just play her cards right and seduce them to get what she wanted. If men would treat her like an object, she'd return the favor.

And then there was...Knuckles. He was the only guy whom she'd tried to get, who had fully and completely resisted her. Rouge had never been refused before in her life. She'd tried almost every trick in the book on that stubborn echinda, and yet he still remained a mountain, and unbreakably committed to his duty, and didn't give in to her an inch, even when she'd tempted him with everything she had.

After yet another failed attempt, Rouge couldn't help but admire him, and his strength, his stubbornness, his will...that he'd resisted the irresistible - her. And part of Rouge was...intrigued. So maybe not ALL men were pigs. Maybe...there were still some good ones out there.

She should have moved on, really, she should have. There were plenty of guys dying to go with her...so why oh why was her heart still fixed on Knuckles?

And why oh why did she always find herself back at the Master Emerald?

The large green Emerald let off a glow on top of the altar, emitting a beacon that could be seen for miles, even in the inky blackness of night. There was no need for the sun to reflect it; the Master Emerald gave off it's own light. It really was quite stunning.

_Of course, Rouge, that's why you're here. For the Emerald. Not because the guardian happens to be insanely good looking or anything. You're here for the Emerald. _

_Keep telling yourself that, hun..._

Her greedy eyes took a break from the intense light from the gigantic Emerald to habitually scan the perimeter, knowing she'd see Knuckles asleep on the steps leading up to the altar. But...no.

He...wasn't there?

_No way, Knuckie's actually left the Master Emerald? Let me alert the news. _

The bat swooped down, letting the air catch on her wings to break her descent. High heels made contact with the hard surface, clicking in protest. Her teal eyes, however, were not on the Emerald. Rouge peeked around the large gem, seeing if maybe the echidna was hiding behind it. But no, still nothing. No movement. It was just her and the Emerald right now...

_C'mon, Rouge, this is what you've been waiting for. This will be your easiest heist yet!_

Inexplicable disappointment flooded her heart. Why wasn't he here, though? Was he just trying to trick her and stop her before she could get away?

_Seriously? Knuckie tricking someone? Get real._

A gloved, feminine hand reached up for the Emerald, feeling it's power absorbed through her fingers. She could see her reflection on it's shiny surface, and Rouge studied her face for a minute. What was wrong with her looks? Was she not drop dead gorgeous? How could -

_Stop it, what's wrong with you? How old are you, 13? _

She steeled her expression and tightened her grip on the Emerald.

_Just take it and go, Rouge...forget about him...he's nothing...you're here for the Emerald. _

But Rouge didn't want the Emerald. She wanted the guardian.

_No...I..._

She turned from the Master Emerald in a huff and took wing.

No, it'd be too easy to take it from him while he was away. Rouge liked a challenge. So that's why she was leaving empty handed right now. Not because she'd only come to see him.

Another touch at her gift, however, betrayed her true desire...

...xxx...

It was amazing how a simple midnight snack could reveal so much.

_Jeez, do I never get a single break in my life? _Knuckles grumbled to no one in particular_. I can't leave the Master Emerald for more than one second, can I? _

Still...when you have a craving...you do what you have to do. Even in the middle of the night.

_Just like that other craving you have, Knuckles_, he told himself during the walk through Mystic Ruins.

The echidna let out an angry grumble in protest. _No. I do not have any sort of craving for that...that...bat. And I certainly don't..._

When had it first started? When _had _Rouge first taken over his thoughts? It certainly must have been a gradual thing. He remembered when they'd first met, when Rouge had first shown up on his "doorstep", dressed head to toe in her body-covering black thief suit. All he had seen was her eyes, but that was more than enough: the lovely teal orbs had sent a shock through his entire body, paralyzing him and clenching his heart.

And then she'd tried to take his Master Emerald.

Knuckles hadn't been quite sure what to do. He'd fight a monster or a bot or an alien no prob, but a_ girl_? Now there was an area he had next to no experience in. The only girls he'd known before her were Amy (a crazy stalker) and Cream (a sweet little bunny). Knuckles never would have thought he'd be pitted against a _girl_ before, and never one so...beautiful.

So he'd done the only thing he knew how to do: yell and chase after her. The bat had looked back at him with surprise, studying his face for a second, but merely pulled off her hood, revealing to Knuckles the most stunning and captivating face he'd seen in his life. Seeing this had the desired effect of Knuckles being dumbfounded by her beauty, Rouge had taken off, but seeing his Master Emerald disappearing had knocked the sense back into Knuckles, and he took it back from her without having to do much.

But as the bat disappeared from his vision, she could never quite disappear from his mind's eye. She was just so...so... wow.

No, it certainly must have been a gradual thing. No one fell in love in a day.

_NO! I am not in love with her! _

Knuckles was firmly convinced that he not only did not love her, but he actually hated Rouge the Bat. The very thought, the very idea of her, and everything she stood for, sent his temper flaring.

So then why did he think about her so much?

_ARGH! Stop it, you idiot! What is wrong with you? You are not in love with that...dirty, rotten, sneaky, greedy, manipulative, selfish, flirty, bat, okay?_

_You cannot afford to fall for her. You know she only wants the Emerald, right? She doesn't care about you, she doesn't have a shred of feelings for you, so you can just forget about her, okay?_

_Forget about her? How can I when she bothers me every day, flirts with me, and it's just...so hard to resist her?_

_She's playing with you. You must be strong and resist. Fight it, Knuckles. Fight it with every ounce of strength dormant in your bones, inherited by your ancestors, to guard the Master Emerald._

This was his duty.

To fight all attacks against the powerful ancient relic. Even if they involved an internal conflict in his heart.

_This really wasn't in the job description, you know. _

_It doesn't matter. You have a job to do and don't need any distractions. Especially not with some jewel thief. _

Knuckles would be the first to admit that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he still prided himself on being logical. Straightforward.

But he was discovering there was nothing straightforward about _anything_ to do with this situation.

Which brought him back to the other day.

Oh...the dreaded other day. What had he been thinking? Or, what had he NOT been thinking?

It had been just a normal day, or so this echidna thought. Rouge had stopped by to visit him, and informed him that it was Valentine's Day. Like he would know or even care. But there was something in the way she hinted at it, something in the way she looked at him and winked...

He'd bitten the bullet and went and bought her a necklace, laced with diamonds and purple amethysts. A gift for that blasted holiday. Seriously, whoever invented it needed a good knock on the head. He'd hated himself the whole time looking, buying, and giving. But he'd done it anyway. Where was the _logic _in that?

_I just did it to get her off my back, ya got that? It was nothing more than that. Now she'll leave me in peace for a few days. She seemed so shocked when I gave it to her, but now that she has-_

The echidna paused right at the bottom of the stairway leading to the Master Emerald, his eyes tracing out the very curvy and womanly figure perched at the top. Her.

_So much for leaving me in peace..._

The thought passed quickly, though, as Knuckles found himself frozen to the spot, watching her every move in wonder. How could she be just so...graceful in her movements? Her hand reached up to caress the Emerald, _his_ Emerald...

_Mobius to Knuckles! Go up there and stop her! She's about to -_

The bat removed her hand from the Master Emerald and she turned to look around the gem. She was searching.

_What is she doing? Why doesn't she just take it and leave? What is she looking for, anyway? _

_You. _

_Ha! Right...to think that Rouge only came here to see me. Seriously? She doesn't care about me, she only wants what I have. She doesn't have any feelings at all, let alone for me. At all. _

_Like I care. _

A flutter of wings stole his attention, and Knuckles broke out of his thoughts. What? Rouge floated into the air and away from the shrine, her hands surprisingly empty.

Where was she going?

Knuckles raced to the top of the altar and watched her fly away in wonder, and inexplicably felt a longing, a disappointment flood his heart. 'Don't go', he wanted to yell after her as he raised his hand in her direction.

_Don't leave..._

The echidna sighed and plopped onto the cold ground, his mind still racing. Could it be she really had been looking for him? Why had she left without taking anything?

_Well, she took **something**, Knuckles. Your heart. _

He huffed. It was a good thing she'd left.

_Good riddance. _

...xxx...

**Eek, sorta a deep chapter, huh? I just wanted to set the stage and show how I view Rouge and Knuckles before they get together. There were some allusions to my other story, so read it if you'd like.**

**I have to thank a friend of mine, Jacklethekitsune, for this chapter. He recently wrote a Knuckles and Rouge story, and because of that, I was inspired to rewrite this darn thing. So thanks, Jackle! Though I'm sure that was not your intent. Whatever, it was done, anyway. So if you all like Knuckles and Rouge you should read his story (and his others!) and review it and thank him and...yeah, shameless plug time. ^_^  
**

**And I know, like _nothing has happened_ yet in this story, but as I said, this is an introduction. I wanted to develop the characters. The plot will pick up real quick...**


	3. More Info

**Mana the Cat Magician, zeldaskeeper, GalexiatheChao, Ember113, Alyssacookie, Jacklethekitsune, JazztheHedgehogSingingStar, IHeartSonAmy, 01sonamy01: Oh, you all are so awesome! I love all of you! *group hug/glomp* Okay, that was a bit awkward...moving on with the story...to a chapter where something actually happens! (And for the record, I don't hate my original story, I just thought I didn't spend enough time on it to develop anything, that's why I'm rewriting. I actually am very proud of my old plot, so it's stayin'!)  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 3: More Info

...xxx...

Two baby blue eyes narrowed in concentration as their owner's gloved fingers flew across the keyboard. Twin bushy tails wagged behind him, mirroring the foxes scattered yet sensible thoughts.

_You think Eggman would've thought of this by now. _

A robot that could move as fast as Sonic. Certainly that could be the only way to beat the hedgehog: neutralize Sonic's greatest strength. And that left Sonic with just what? His heart, his will, his sense of justice, his...heroism. Those were things that a robot made by Eggman just couldn't counter.

So while Tails wasn't worried, as he had unwavering faith that Sonic could do anything, he was still trying to figure this puzzle of Metal Sonic out. It took a lot of energy to get anything to travel at the speed of sound, let alone above it. Which made Tails think that Metal Sonic was probably going to have to be powered by a Chaos Emerald.

Still, he needed more information about what Eggman was up to here. Creating a robot that could match and neutralize Sonic is a big deal. Tails figured it might be a good idea to go on the offensive against Eggman for once, be proactive, sneak into his base and see what he was doing with Metal Sonic. Besides, it'd been pretty boring and quiet around here lately. Eggman hadn't launched a single attack since Metal Sonic first appeared a few days ago. Tails was getting a little suspicious as to what the Doctor had planned.

Well, not all was quiet around here: Sonic had finally given in and let Amy have him. That, while not surprising, was certainly big news in their little group of friends. Tails always knew, somewhere in the back of his head, that it would happen eventually. To Tails, it was so obvious that Sonic liked Amy - the way he'd sneak a glance at her when he thought no one was looking, the way he'd always get so flustered when someone brought her up, the way he'd always went out of his way and steeled himself to protect her, and the way he'd always been so insistent upon saving her. So now he'd finally broke his stubbornness and pride.

_Way to go, big bro._

Yeah, Tails was happy for them. It certainly was nice to actually have them on good terms now, and not have Amy heartbroken and angry all the time and Sonic on edge around her. Yesterday, though, they'd been so mushy and disgusting that Tails couldn't stand to be with them for more than about a minute. Plus it brought back bittersweet memories and a hint of jealousy...

_Tails, don't go down that route. You need to move on now. It's been almost a week. _

_A week? I knew her for months. _

Yes, a whole week and still the plant was barely more than a sprout. Tails' blue eyes and attention left his computer screen to come to rest on something more organic. A simple white pot sat in the only sunny corner of his main work area, the only plant amidst the clutter of half finished inventions and mechanical parts.

It was all he had left of her.

Her. Such a lovely, graceful, nice, gentle, beautiful, perfect girl. Why oh why did it have to be her? Why couldn't someone else have died to save the universe? Why was it always the innocent that had to suffer for others? It just wasn't fair.

Cosmo. The name sure was fitting, considering she had been everything to Tails, and had ended up saving everything...

Tears once again pricked at his eyes, and his orange-furred shoulders clenched up along with his fists.

"Hey Tails!"

The voice was so sudden, so cheery, and so unmistakable that Tails almost fell out of his chair in pure shock. He really should be used to this, Sonic just popping in randomly, but the mood he was in clashed greatly with his usual alertness.

"Ha, scared ya, didn't I?" Sonic continued on, completely oblivious to his friend's tears.

The fox quickly wiped at his eyes, embarrassed that he was still crying over it. Would Sonic cry over it if something like that happened to him? _Of course not, Tails. Sonic doesn't let anything affect him..._

"Hey Sonic," Tails said, not even attempting to fake emotion and continuing to study his computer screen.

"Hey, what's with the long face, man?" The hedgehog said, his trademark grin dissolving just a bit. His green eyes traced to where the fox had been staring previously, and the grin disappeared completely.

"Hey," Sonic said in a much gentler tone as he lessened the distance between them and placed his hand on Tails' shoulder. "What's done is done, man." _Not in my heart_. "Look up, it's a beautiful world now," _For you, and only because of her sacrifice,_ "and it's time to move on." _Never. I can't forget her, can't just shrug it off like you can._

Tails forced himself to smile as he looked up into Sonic's shiny green eyes. Pity. That's all there was deep in those orbs, right? Still, Sonic's confidence and gaiety were very contagious.

"C'mon, man...just forget about it. There's really no point dwellin' on the past. Can't do nothin'. So..." he let his grin return and bared his gleaming teeth. "What're we doin' _today_?"

Today. Tails let his mind snap back to the present and his eyes drifted back to his computer, and to one of the running applications. Metal Sonic. Right. "Uh...I was thinking of maybe sneaking into Eggman's base and getting more info on Metal Sonic."

Sonic nodded. "That's a good idea. Never can have too much info on my newest faker." He chuckled to himself. "Though I'm not too worried. It's only one of Eggman's robots."

Tails' eyes never left the screen. "You know, Sonic, Eggman's probably working on improving him right now. And I'd like to see what he's up to."

"Well, if yer goin' to check it out, I'm goin'. Going on the offensive for once can't hurt. We can round up the others too."

"Alright then." Tails started shutting down his computer, but flinched as he saw his wallpaper. It was a picture of everyone on that party they'd had aboard the Blue Typhoon, the party that _she_ had thrown: himself, Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Chris, Cream and Cheese, Vector, Espio, Charmy and...

He swallowed. "Lemme get the X-Tornado ready. Where's Amy, anyway?"

Sonic blushed at her mention, but still grinned. "I'm sure she'll be along eventually. I told her-"

"Sonic!"

A high pitched voice reached both guys' ears. One winced, but the other's grin grew wider. The latter rushed for the door and spread his arms, ready to welcome his girl into his embrace. She came into his vision and Sonic really didn't want to dodge her hug this time. So he let his guard down and waited for Amy to come to him.

"Sonic that was _so sweet_ of you!" she squealed and launched herself at him. "The rose and the note!"

He accepted her hug but had to gasp in surprise when the force of Amy coming at him sent them both tumbling down to the ground. Sonic landed with an "umph" as his back was slammed to the ground but really couldn't complain too much as Amy brought her way too sweet lips up to caress his.

Now blushing profusely, half of Sonic wanted to throw Amy off of him - but the other half was enjoying her warm hug and kiss too much to do anything, and so the latter won. He couldn't help but be amused at her hyperness. Besides, her deep green eyes were so captivating right then, and a sweet smile played on the lips only an inch from his...

_Still, Sonic, she's **on top** of you, in front of** Tails**..._

Amy giggled at his bright red face and lifted herself off of him, but not before kissing his nose once again._ Oh Sonic you're just so cute..._ Amy brought herself to her feet and smoothed down her dress, now blushing a little herself.

"Sorry, Sonic, I just got so happy when I saw that..."

"Don't worry about it," Sonic interrupted and sprang to his feet while giving her a heart melting smile.

Amy had to grit her teeth to suppress another squeal and the urge to tackle Sonic again. The hedgehog gave her a wink, and took her hand, but when his eyes drifted to Tails and followed his gaze back over to the plant, he had to frown.

_Hey man, I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do..._

"Hey, uh, let's go get Knux, huh?" Sonic said.

"Right," Tails said and headed for the hangar without looking at the two hedgehogs, who were very much _together._

...xxx...

_Something really needs to happen, and right now. If I don't get another fight in soon...I may start going crazy. Eggman needs to attack, or someone has to steal the Master Emerald. I just...need to get my mind off of...her._

The guardian sighed and stood up to stretch. It really _had_ been boring around here lately. Sonic had told him that Eggman had come up with some crazy new robot that apparently could run as fast as Sonic could, but besides that abosolutely nothing had happened.

He turned his gaze back to the cerulean sky, squinting as the sun glared back at him protest, bored out of his mind. Usually this echidna didn't get restless easily, as his job forbidden him to take much of an active lifestyle, but lately that's exactly how he'd been feeling. Restless and unsettled. Uncomfortable. Uneasy.

_Will **she** come today? _

_Oh, why do I care? I don't ever want to see her again! _

_You do, too, Knuckles. This is why you're acting so different. Because you want her.  
_

_NO!  
_

Knuckles stood straight up, inexplicable rage running through his muscular body, tugging at him to destroy something. He was tired of just sitting here, brooding around like this. He despearately needed to punch something, and right now.

His feet flew down the altar and carried him through the surrounding forest, and Knuckles' fists pumped like pistons, downing trees left and right. The trunks fell in domino fashion, littering the forest floor and sending the inhabitants running for cover from this angry guardian. But Knuckles didn't care, he'd take anything, anything to get his mind off Rouge right now...

"Hey, uh, maybe we should come back later..."

Voices!

Knuckles paused after another slam from a tree falling faded into the atmosphere. He turned in the direction of the sound, almost hopefully...Sonic, Amy, and Tails. Not Rouge.

_Good. _

"Hey Knux," Sonic said with an amused grin as his jade green eyes scanned the recent destruction of the forest. "This a bad time?"

Knuckles narrowed his eyes._ No, I'm in complete control of myself, don't you see? _"What's up?"

Tails shifted his weight, "Well, we're planning on sneaking into Eggman's base and sabotaging Metal Sonic or finding out what Eggman's doing with him. Wanna help?"

"Sounds good," he replied gruffly. "It's about time something interesting happened around here."

The blue hedgehog surveyed the half destroyed forest again. "Looks like you made something happen," Sonic muttered, which, of course, made Amy giggle.

The echidna rolled his eyes. "So what's the plan?"

Sonic snorted. _"Plan_? Ha, that's a good one, Knux. As if we actually _think_ before we do things..."

More giggles from Amy caused Knuckles to frown deeper. Great, so now those two would be even MORE annoying. Wonderful. Another glance at Sonic to see him smiling softly at Amy and holding her hand twisted his stomach in disgust. _ See, this is why you can't give your heart to that blasted bat. See what it does to you? It makes you so...weak.  
_

"Well," Tails piped up, "The truth is, we're still working out details of the plan. But I've got a few ideas."

"You bring the X-Tornado?" Knuckles asked, ignoring the annoying hedgehog couple, who were still giggling.

"Yep, let's load it up. We can talk details on the way."

Knuckles followed the little fox and the hedgehogs to the hangar, but the more he studied Sonic and Amy and how they were so...oblivious, the more he was quite sure about how he thought of all this love business.

_Do you really want to be like them, Knuckles? Acting so...dumbly? _

His eyes drifted up at Tails, who still silently brooding, aching over what had happened. _Or worse...end up like him? _

...xxx...

_What to do...what to do? Maybe Eggy's got some Chaos Emeralds_, Rouge thought as she hovered around the entrance to his base. She lingered right near the perimeter, careful to stay out of range of the surveillance monitors. Certianly, the doctor must have some...now it's just getting in that's the problem...

Her thoughts were interrupted by a rush of air above her. The bat glanced up and her heart clenched at seeing the famous gray and red plane glide overhead, fly over the base, and then circle back to land on the outside of the base, in a nearby clearing.

So...what are they doing here? Rouge couldn't help but wonder. Right now the plane was out of her sight, but Rouge couldn't help but stare at where it had disappeared from her vision. She watched the clearing eagerly, waiting to see the heroes emerge, hoping that it wasn't just Sonic and Tails...

Voices reached her ears...Sonic's deep a cocky one, of course, he was always noisy...then an annoying giggle by none other than Pinky. Great. Tails' young voice said something, but Rouge was straining every ounce of her uncannily good hearing to hear if _he_ was with them...

Bushes rustled, the three distinct voices still reached her ears, and she couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment...

Figures emerged from behind the line of trees, and Rouge did a quick scan of them. Blue, pink, orange, and, yes...red.

Her heart soared and a warm smile played at her lips. Not a smirk, just an overflow of the rush of pure happiness in her heart. He looked so handsome, so strong, so capable...her eyes traced his crescent birthmark and then his long dreadlock styled quills. His hands were clenched, making his namesakes stand out more. For a second Rouge could just stare at him from her high altitude, her heart fluttering in synch with her wings.

_Rouge, did you forget who you are? You're not 13 anymore, you don't have some silly crush, it's just Knucklehead..._

_Yes, just **him**..._

Her fingers flew to her neck, which was still adorned with that wonderful necklace, as Rouge swooped down to land in front of the group. They all pulled back a little, shocked at her sudden appearance. Sonic crossed his arms but hinted at a smile, Amy frowned a little and clutched Sonic's hand, Tails just gaped at her, and Knuckles...the echidna merely blinked before letting himself scowl, trying to surpress his heart leaping...

"Hey boys and Pinky," Rouge said, turning on the charm and winking at Knuckles. "What are you all up to?"

"Why should we tell you?" Knuckles muttered, his shiny indigo eyes narrowed indignantly.

Rouge raised an eyebrow at him, but Tails interrupted before she could respond to him. "Wait, Knuckles. We're just sneaking into Eggman's base."

"See Rouge, there's no jewels involved, so you shouldn't care," Knuckles sneered at her.

But Rouge merely smiled at him, trying not to let it show how much his seeming hatred hurt her heart. "That's alright, Knuckie, I have all the jewels I need at the moment, thanks to you." She winked and let her finger trace the necklace once again.

_She was wearing it! _Once again, Knuckles found himself fighting off his thrill to force himself to keep scowling.

Tails, meanwhile, was totally confused. He turned to Sonic, but the hedgehog was merely pressing his lips together, his neck muscles strained from trying not to laugh. Tails then turned to Amy, but the girl's eyes were suddenly wide in excitement.

"So..." the fox, who believed he was the only sane one present, said, breaking the spell. "Are you in Rouge?"

"Why sure," the bat said. "What's the plan?"

"I was thinking that Sonic and Knuckles could provide a distraction on the outside of the base, while you, me, and Amy sneak inside to get some information," Tails said matter of factly. He held up a flash drive. "I'll download what I can so I can see what Eggman's been up to with Metal Sonic. Sound good?"

"Alright," Sonic said and grinned, letting the adrenaline start pumping him up. "Let's do this."

...xxx...

**So, you see some Tails angst. Poor lil guy, but hey...part of being a hero in love is the fact that something really could happen to your loved ones if put in the line of fire.**

**And you see Sonic and Amy's relationship. Remember, they _just_ started dating so Amy is still in her fangirlish/happy/giddy/clingy/needy mood. And Sonic is still a little...shy about it all. Awww...**

**I must say, as a random note, that I relate to all the characters on some aspect.  
**

**Next chapter soon...**


	4. Infiltration

**01sonamy01, Koollolly, GalexiatheChao, Crails123, Jacklethekitsune, IHeartSonAmy, The Writer's Freedom Project, CherrletheChicken: Sorry guys, I was just trying to be realistic. I figure if you pair up Sonic and Amy right after Sonic X the way I did, you'd have to deal with Tails' thoughts. But don't worry, they'll be some happy, fluffy, and very humorous moments coming up. You all should know that I can't write too much of this sadness.  
**

**And yes, another one of my disclaimers: _I. Can't. Write. Action._ It's not my cup of tea ("Then why are you writing an adventure story?") Because...I have my reasons. :P I wanted to explore the whole concept of relationships in terms of battles and missions. But don't worry, this story is still mainly romance, and there are only going to be 2 or 3 chapters that have my crappy action writing skills in them. :P  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 4: Infiltration

...xxx...

Before turning his full attention onto Eggman's base that he was about to disturb, Sonic let his green eyes drift to Amy, just to reassure her before the battle. This was the first one he'd been in since they'd gotten together. The girl smiled at him, and Sonic squeezed her hand. "Be careful in there, Amy."

"You too, Sonic." Amy leaned forward to give him a gentle peck on the cheek, which immediately turned bright red. _He's so cute when he blushes! _

Sonic was way too embarrassed to return the favor in front of everyone. This was really something he'd have to get used to, being all mushy with Amy. Not that he minded, it was just...he could feel everyone's eyes on him, and it gave him a nervous, uneasy feeling. Whatever. One more look into Amy's beautiful eyes made it worth it, though.

_Who cares about them, huh Ames?_ He wanted to tell her that, but couldn't bring himself to do anything but wink before he let go of her hand and rushed off into the base, an annoyed and uneasy Knuckles on his lightening-quick heels.

After watching in awe as her dreamy boyfriend rushed off to do what he did best, Amy turned to Rouge. "Oh my gosh, you and _Knuckles_? He bought you that necklace?" she asked incredulously. Amy couldn't imagine the echidna do anything remotely that romantic.

"He sure did." Rouge said simply, not quite sure if she wanted to have this conversation.

Amy grinned. "Oh that is so _romantic_. So are you two going to, like, _go out_?"

_I wonder the same...A **relationship** with Knuckles? Could he...would he? Did he want...no, he couldn't have that. _Rouge herself hadn't been in a steady relationship, not since Shadow...and that hadn't been anything to write home about, anyway. No...and yet, why had he given her the necklace, if not to say something with it? Had he not been saying that he liked her? She'd have to ask him about it later.

She glanced down at her nails. "We'll just have to wait and see, girl."

Amy beamed, then said. "I hope you guys do, but Rouge, I wanted to thank you again. You gave me the best advice about Sonic anyone could give me. Now that I gave him a little, he's fallen for me and we're just so happy!" She squealed as the memories of how Sonic had treated her the past few days flooded her thoughts.

Tails could just stand there, shaking his head, unsuccessfully trying to block out their conversation. _Why'd **I** have to get stuck with the **girls**?_ All this talk of romance...

_Cosmo._

_And I didn't get the chance to...to tell her..._

His mind drifted back to that one day, right after her party. He'd cradled the polished up flower-shaped jewel in his glove, fighting off his shyness to go talk with her. Cosmo had drifted off from the group, not willing to listen to yet another one of Vector's embellished stories. She was standing in front of a window, inspecting the stars, her head off into her own little world like always. Tails had often wondered about those thoughts of hers, and found himself amazed that she could just notice all the little things, all the details. Tails himself was detail oriented, but Cosmo noticed things he would never would have.

So he'd approached her, shyly returned the flower she'd dropped...and couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she looked, with her big baby blue eyes staring at the stars in wonder, dreaming of a better future without the Metarex...and Tails had wanted so badly to say, to share his feelings...

"You're so beauti-"

He'd had to stop. It was too much. His heart had clenched, and he'd twitched, even let out a light scream. It was too much for him to say, thought it would have been undoubtedly the most true thing he ever would have uttered.

But he couldn't. His accursed shyness had prevented him.

And now she was gone, and he would never get to tell her.

So now Tails was alone. Yeah, he had his friends, but now they were all starting to fall in love and be paired up together. Sonic and Amy… well, he figured that would happen eventually. But _Knuckles _with_ Rouge_? This was getting ridiculous.

BEEP! BEEP! "INTRUDERS!" BEEP! BEEP!

The cold grip of reality in the form of the alarm going off at the base brought Tails out of his thoughts.

"That's our cue," Rouge said, bringing her teal eyes up to study the base, looking for a sign of Knuckles before they snuck inside. No avail.

"Let's move," Tails said.

Surprisingly enough, Rouge led the way, heading toward where she knew was the best place to enter. With Sonic and Knuckles both on different fronts, all the security measures Eggman had installed were focused on the two heroes, but that didn't stop an odd robot from getting in their way. Still, it was nothing Rouge's kick or Amy's hammer couldn't handle.

Once the three of them had made it inside the building, stopping only for a second to catch their breath, Rouge once again took the lead, heading to the best way to get to the center. Tails was grateful she'd come. Otherwise they'd take forever to find where Metal Sonic was. In fact, having Rouge join them permanently might not be such a bad thing; her skills could be invaluable. Still...the bat wasn't loyal to anyone except herself. It really was a shame...

A security bot spotted the three of them right before the entrance to the secret lab that contained Metal Sonic, but before it could alert Eggman, it's head was dented in courtesy of Amy's hammer.

"Some security system you got here, Eggy..." Rouge muttered as she cracked the password in only a few seconds. Maybe she should be on edge..

The door opened with a whoosh, and the odd trio stepped inside, taking in the furniture. The whole room was lined with large, powerful computers on the perimeter. Various scraps of metal and tangled wires were sprawled along the floor, but what drew everyone's eye was the blue robot in the center of the room.

While Tails headed straight for one of the computers to see what he could download, Amy and Rouge headed over to Metal Sonic. The robot's body was disassembled, with wires poking out of the cobalt blue metal, giving it a very underwhelming appearance. It was obviously in the rebuild stage.

Rouge smirked at Eggman's newest invention. "Don't be mistaking this one for Sonic, Pinky."

Amy scowled at Rouge, but blushed at the memory of doing so just the other day. "I would never do that!"

"Sure you wouldn't, hun."

Her temper now in it's mild stage, Amy pulled out her hammer and poised it above the robot. "This faker is history," she said and got ready to pour her wrath into this swing.

Tails' eyes got huge. "Wait Amy!"

The girl stopped her hammer about a foot above Metal Sonic, her eyes blazing with a this-had-better-be-good look. "What?"

"If you do that I can't get all the info. Why don't you check on Sonic and Knuckles?"

Amy shrugged, dropped her hammer to the side, and opened up her wrist-comm, pushing the button to get to Sonic's frequency. It was time to check on her lover. She really hoped that he was alright, and really didn't see any reason for him not to be. It was Sonic after all; there was nothing he couldn't handle. She pursed her lips together and waiting for his amazing face to appear on the monitor...

...xxx...

A blue blur of concentrated speed and power ping ponged off the robots Eggman was sending at it. His spin dash was powerful enough to slice through most metals no problem, so Sonic cut through them, but used their momentum to angle himself off and into the next robot. A flicky flying overhead would only see a dark blue zig zag for a second, then just the carnage of broken robots sprawled throughout the base's perimeter.

_This never gets old. _

The hedgehog paused once the whole line of robots was destroyed, but rather to examine his handiwork than to catch his breath. Oh no, he was just getting warmed up. Sonic would give Amy, Tails, and Rouge as much time as they needed.

He chuckled a little as his green eyes scanned the base, alert but not on edge, waiting for the next attack. The next thing he saw, though, was the doctor in all his fat glory, riding on that annoying little hovercraft. _Probably because it takes too much effort for him to actually **walk **anywhere..._

"What are you doing here, Sonic?" Eggman demanded, his dark blue glasses flashing.

Sonic looked up at him, grinning his cocky grin, content to spar with the doctor and distract him further. "You know, I almost feel _bad_. You spend all this time making robots only to have me beat them in 2 seconds."

"Laugh while you can, Sonic. Metal Sonic is the ultimate robot, created just to destroy you. Don't think you'll be able to stop me this time!"

"Hmph. When have I _not_ stopped you, Egghead?"

Eggman merely tilted his head and grinned slyly. "Shouldn't you be off with your new little _girlfriend_, Sonic?"

"Never mind that!" Sonic said almost too quickly, even for him. He desperately fought his blush, but couldn't stop the heat from raising to his cheeks.

The evil doctor cackled. "Sonic, Sonic, Sonic. A hero in love. It's almost _touching. _I just hope you won't come to regret it later..."

Having nothing to say for once, Sonic merely scowled and took off, wanting to change the subject and get Eggman's mind off of her.

"Hey, I'm not finished with you yet!" The doctor yelled at his retreating form.

_I'm sure as heck finished with you...If you touch her, you're toast. _"Hurry up, slowpoke!"

A barrage of laser missles were suddenly hurled in Sonic's direction, but they were so slow it a joke to dodge them. He let his reflexes take over to jump out of the way of the lasers, enjoying the thrill and adrenaline rush that came from being in so much peril but knowing he could handle every millisecond of it.

_I wonder how much more time they need?_ Sonic was about to call Amy but a buzzing on his wrist indicated she'd beat him to it. He used one hand to open the wrist comm, smiling at her lovely, cute little face.

"Sonic?"

He loved her sweet, innocent voice way too much. It warmed his heart in the midst of battle. "Yeah? You all okay in there?" Sonic asked, still dodging the missiles.

"Yep. Tails is downloading the info now. It shouldn't take much longer, no more than a minute," Amy filled him in, wincing as she saw the laser missles in the background and how close they were to hitting Sonic.

"No problem. Call me if anything comes up, and I'll be there in a jiffy."

Amy smiled. "Okay, Sonic. I love you!"

"Love ya, too, Ames." He winked and closed the monitor and turned his whole attention back on fighting off waves of Eggman's robots.

...xxx...

Back in the lab, Tails was looking through the files on another computer from the one he was downloading. The information wasn't making much sense with just the first glance; Tails knew he'd have to look back over this stuff in more detail, when they had more time.

"Hmmm…" he mused, biting his tongue.

"What is it?" Amy asked, closing her wrist-comm.

"Looks like Eggman was going to power Metal Sonic with the Chaos Emeralds."

"But Eggman doesn't have any Emeralds, right?" Amy asked.

"I don't think so, Amy. Although when we split them up some might have gotten lost."

Amy nodded. She'd found one just the other day, in fact, although she'd given it to Sonic. It was amazing how the Emeralds got lost all the time. Right now, two were in account and safely in Sonic's very capable hands.

"DOWNLOAD COMPLETE," the computer said.

"Alright!" Tails said and took his drive out, cradling it in his palm.

"Can I smash it now?" Amy asked, her green eyes growing big in anticipation at getting to wreck Eggman's new weapon.

"Sure Amy," Tails said and rolled his eyes a little. He then looked at Rouge, who was being eerily quiet and hacking into a computer herself. Strange...

Amy lifted her hammer to start pounding Metal Sonic, but Tails saw no reason to stay and called Knuckles and Sonic, telling them to meet on the western side. The fox flew out of the base with his twin tails, his mind really elsewhere at this point and not aware of his surroundings. _I wonder...that code I saw in there...it didn't really make any sense, but...I need to look into it. _

Meanwhile, Sonic and Knuckles left their fun and headed out of the base toward the rendezvous point.

"What a rush," Knuckles said, letting out a breath and cracking his namesakes.

"I know, right?" Sonic said, grinning and still high on adrenaline.

The two scanned the horizon, and saw Tails fly up to meet them, holding his drive aloft in show. "I got it."

Not seeing what he had hoped, Sonic peeked behind the fox. "Where are the girls?"

"Huh?" Tails turned around and freaked out at seeing nothing. "They were right behind me, I swear!" This wasn't good. Had they caught a snag on the way back? Tails himself had gotten out easily enough...

"You _left_ them in there?" Knuckles said incredulously, feeling a bit...no, not _worried_ about Rouge...just annoyed at Tails... right?

Groaning but knowing there wasn't time to waste in yelling at Tails, Sonic zipped back into the base and Knuckles followed him, grumbling. Tails watched them race back, shocked and feeling very guilty. They really had been right behind him...but how had he been too distracted to notice that they weren't following him anymore?

_I should go back, too. _Tails looked at his valuable drive, and not wanting it to get ruined in any coming battle, hid it under some leaves, and followed his older, infatuated brothers back in.

...xxx...

**Ah...it's not too bad, I guess. I'll take ANY suggestions to improve my action writing skills.**

**And you know you've watched too much Sonic X when...yes, the allusion/flashback by Tails was from the end of Episode 65, which is certainly one of my favorites (if it wasn't for episode 52, that one would be my hands down fave). There will actually be more allusions to that episode further along in the story, so don't be surprised.**

**Til then...do your thing in your reviews! Thanks in advance, guys, I love all of you! ;) I hope you're enjoying this!  
**


	5. Rescue Me

**Mana the Cat Magician, Crails123, Jacklethekitsune, GalexiatheChao, SonamyRules159, poka, The Writer's Freedom Project, IHeartSonAmy, 01sonamy01, bk00: Hey! Not much to say here. I know it's a lot like the old one, but you all seemed to like it so I kept the plot. Less work on my part, too. And yes, I update fast because this story is already written, I'm just adding details in between what I already have. By the way, you all should thank The Writer's Freedom Project, he's the one who asked me to rewrite this. Anyway, enjoy, guys and gals...  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 5: Rescue Me

...xxx...

It had happened so fast that Sonic himself would be proud. And yet, the hedgehog would be nothing but steaming mad when he found out what had happened; Amy knew that much. Now if only he would get here...

As soon as Tails had left so obliviously, his drive in hand, Amy had slammed her hammer down on Metal Sonic, breaking the robot down to scrap metal in a million pieces. Then, quite suddenly, all the lights had shut off, leaving the girls in pure darkness and shocked silence. With a loud grinding noise, the whole room had shifted up, creating a slope that sent both girls into another compartment. It slid them downwards into an underground part of the base. The shift had ended with a thud and a slam, then all the lights had flicked back on, revealing to the captive girls their prison.

It really wasn't much to behold; just a simple metal cage, but Amy and Rouge found their trademark attacks did nothing to break the bars any. So they were trapped, just like cliched damsels in distress, waiting for their heroes to come back and save them.

_Apparently this room does have security after all, _Rouge thought bittersweetly as she let herself sit down on the floor. This wasn't the first time she'd found herself locked up like this, but it was the first time she'd felt a little helpless about the situation. Maybe because Amy was screaming her head off at Eggman, preventing Rouge from thinking. And then there was part of her, a small part, that was hoping that Knuckles would come and rescue her.

She couldn't stop her mind from drifting back to when they were on Space Colony ARK, when he'd saved her from a nasty fall. She could tell that when they were fighting, Knuckles had been holding back, but still Rouge had slipped over the edge, falling into the abyss. Of course, she'd panicked, but before her reflexes could open up her wings to stop her descent, Rouge had felt a jerk, indicating her momentum had been broken. Blinking, her teal eyes flew upwards, and she'd felt his incredibly strong hand holding hers, supporting her weight effortlessly.

Knuckles had saved her. He'd stooped, swallowed his pride...and for her. Rouge had been too shocked, too..._pleased_ to do anything at first, and just lightly felt his fingers underneath his gloves grip her hand while he pulled her up to safety. She'd avoided his eyes for a second, still surprised at such chivalry, but then suddenly remembered who she was and pulled away, reverting back to playing games and getting him fired up. But still, even now, the memory lingered in her head.

_Because you don't have to work alone anymore...and you just want someone to rescue you...from the games and the lies...and to protect you...  
_

"You better let us go!" Amy demanded, her green eyes blazing with anger, and bringing Rouge back to the present. "Sonic's going to be angry when he sees you captured_ me_!"

The doctor just laughed gave an evil grin, obviously planning on what to do with his two hostages. _  
_

"C'mon Eggy, let us go," Rouge tried to reason. "We haven't done anything."

Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you call attacking my base for no reason and destroying Metal Sonic nothing? Forget it. And don't think _Sonic_ will save you. I got a surprise for that blasted hedgehog." He cackled again and left them.

"OH! Get back here Eggman!" Amy yelled at his fat figure leaving them behind. She fell to her bottom in a huff, but wasn't too worried; Sonic would be along any second to save her, just like he'd promised. The pink hedgehog opened up her wrist comm, hoping it'd get a signal all the way down here...

...xxx...

Sonic would let absolutely nothing get in his way now. While he could forgive Tails for leaving them behind, he could never forgive himself if anything happened to Amy.

His legs seemed to move on their own, dodging robots and missiles, not even taking the time to fight them off. Sonic knew that he didn't have any time to lose; who knew what Eggman could be doing to the girls? The only problem was where the doctor was keeping them. Sonic would just keep looking until he found them.

Unfortunately for Knuckles, he wasn't blessed with Sonic's super speed, and so he couldn't just avoid the robots. The echidna ended up having to fight off all the robots that Sonic had left in the dust. They weren't hard to deal with, it was just the principle of the thing. Of course, Mr. Lover Boy didn't care about anything except Amy right now and had left him behind.

A large gloved fist downed yet another swatbot, and Knuckles jumped over it, straining for a glance of his partner in crime up ahead. Normally Knuckles didn't mind working alone, but he figured that in this mission they should stick together.

He found himself getting more angry and frustrated at every single swatbot in his path. Angry at Sonic for leaving him behind, angry at Tails for failing to notice the girls were missing...speaking of the fox, where WAS he? Had he followed them in or not?

_ARGH! Screw this, I just want to - _

_Do what, Knuckles? Save Rouge? _

He had absolutely no answer for this except a roar, and his anger manifested into more and more powerful punches. He let his rage overflow into his fists, downing more robots left and right, littering the halls with metal, nuts, bolts, wires...

_I swear...if they've hurt her..._

A vision of Rouge, broken, hurt, bleeding, and crying, popped into his head, but that just made him more angry - angry to think she'd been hurt, and even more angry that this made him angry.

_No...I can't let myself be consumed by this. I need to be a rock, a mountain..._

_Still...if she needs me...I'll save her..._

_Because I've found something else to protect._

...xxx...

Sonic's wrist comm barely had time to buzz before its owner had it opened and was looking at Amy's lovely face, relieved that she seemed okay.

"Sonic?" Her innocent voice called to him.

"Ames, you alright?" Sonic asked, barely keeping one eye on where he was going.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I'm fine. Rouge and I are in a cage, though."

"Do you know where you are?" Sonic asked, zipping out of the way of a robot.

"Somewhere underground, I think. Use the tracking thing on your wrist comm."

Right. Why hadn't he thought of that?

_Because you don't **think**, Sonic. You just rush off into danger.  
_

He smiled slyly. "Okay, Ames, I'll be there in a sec."

Sonic came to halt, trying to make a plan of where to look next. While he didn't know every feature Tails had programmed into these communicators, Sonic knew how to use them well enough. And indeed, the tracking application told him that Amy was underground.

Not knowing the layout of the base at all, Sonic started searching for some downward stairs, but only came upon an elevator. He pushed the call button, but ended up tapping his foot impatiently when it didn't open after a few seconds, and gave up to rush away to find a stairway.

The underground base was much colder than above ground, and also much more deserted and dark. Old, broken lights swung from the ceiling, threatening to fall on anyone who dared walk below, but Sonic tore through the hallway so fast that he didn't even take notice of them. At the end of the tunnel stood, just as Amy had told him, a cage. It really was an odd setup down here; just a long hallway with this prison at the end. There really was no other way out, but Sonic wasn't even considering that once Amy's face came into view.

"Sonic!" Amy screamed when the hedgehog came to a halt in front of their cage.

"About time," Rouge said, but had to frown when she saw that he was alone. Of course, Knucklehead had probably already left, not caring about what happened to her...

Sonic wasted no time in breaking down the door to their cage and approaching Amy. He ran a hand tenderly down her quills, relieved that he'd gotten here before Egghead could do anything to her.

"You alright?" he asked, pausing to stroke her ears.

Amy smiled and hugged him. "I knew you'd save me!"

"Yeah, I'm fine, too, thanks for asking," Rouge said sarcastically, surprised at how hurt she was that Knuckles didn't come. _Did you honestly expect him to? _

Sonic glanced at the bat over Amy's shoulder. "Don't worry, Knuckles will be here any second. He's just too slow to keep up with me."

A strange blush came to her cheeks, and Rouge had to turn away. Was it really that obvious that someone as oblivious as _Sonic_ could tell there was something between them? Or was it just Pinky whispering and giggling in his ear?

"We don't have time for this," Rouge said and took wing, ready to get out of this dreadful dungeon. The humidity down here was really ruining her makeup...not that anyone was here to see her...

The bat's way was suddenly blocked by a huge robot guardian, with 8 arms covered in painful looking razor sharp spikes protruding out of it's gray mechanical body. It had seemingly come out of nowhere (or perhaps a secret passageway) while the three of them were distracted. She only had a split second to react as one of it's large, spiked arms was coming at her, but that's all she would have to need. Rouge glided out of the way, but another arm of the robot was coming at her from that direction, threatening to sandwich her. The bat paused in indecision, but luckily one of the arms was snapped off by a lightening quick spin dash attacking it at the stem.

_Thanks, Big Blue. _

Sonic grinned and was about to head back to pick up Amy, but yet another arm of the metal octopus struck him from behind, sending the hedgehog hurling into the wall. The deadening impact slammed his body with terrible pain and created a huge dent in the wall in the shape of Sonic's scrawny body.

"OW!" Sonic yelled in pain, but wasted no more time and pushed himself painfully off the wall. They had to get out of here...but seriously, where was Knuckles?

_Stupid slow people_, Sonic growled but focused on looking for a flash of pink and red. He had to smile a little, when he saw Amy with her famous hammer drawn, beating the crap out of one of the legs of the robot, trying to weaken it from the base.

Meanwhile, Rouge was trying to avoid the arms of the robot to fly over the top, but there were just too many arms in her way preventing her path.

_Gotta use a different tactic,_ she thought, but had to gasp in hurt when an arm slammed into her, sending the bat flying, this time in the other direction from the cage. She fought desperately with her wings to get control of her descent, but just like on ARK, her panic was getting the better of her. The ground was coming up fast, and Rouge saw no way out of slamming into it...

She closed her eyes in painful anticipation, but a roar of anger caused them to snap open. What...he'd come after all?

Two powerful, spiked hands slammed into the the other leg of the robot, cracking the base and causing the whole thing to crumple to the ground now that one of it's legs was shot. Knuckles didn't take the time to examine his handiwork, though; he immediately dove to the floor, reaching out his arms to cushion the impact of the tumbling bat, who fell into his firm grip.

For a second the two just stared at each other, puzzled teal orbs meeting serious indigo. Knuckles cradled Rouge in his arms, holding her close to his heaving chest, which was breathless not only from the exertion of getting here, but also from how close Rouge's face and body were to him. He did a quick once over of her body, relieved to see she wasn't hurt.

_You should seriously put her down now, Knuckles..._

But he didn't want to. Her body was just so warm...and Rouge certainly wasn't trying to wiggle free, wasn't calling him any names this time. She could just stare at him, relieved and _so happy_ he had _actually_ come for _her_. One of Rouge's hands found its way around his neck, and the other one was slowly reaching for his face, just to touch it and maybe guide it into hers for a kiss...

The two were so caught up in the moment, and Knuckles was so paralyzed and shocked that he thought he might drop the girl...her hand was about an inch from his face, and Knuckles waited in anticipation, wanting her touch like he'd wanted nothing else in his life...

"Hey guys! We should go!" Tails' young voice pierced their tender moment.

Knuckles tore his gaze away from Rouge, turning away from her gentle hand, but hating himself for doing so. Too embarrassed to even look at her now, the echidna set her back on her heels and then took off after Sonic, Amy, and Tails, who were already half way out.

Rouge blinked at his retreating from before taking wing to chase after him, her mind still dazey from what had almost just happened. Had he...had they...almost...

_It's not a big deal. He caught you, so what? And you didn't even kiss. But if you had, it's not like you've never been kissed before...It's not a big deal, really.  
_

And yet it was. For whatever reason.

Once the five of them were a safe distance from the base, Sonic surveyed his teammates to make sure they were still in one piece. "Everybody alright?"

"Thanks for leaving me the elevator," Knuckles grumbled. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Sonic smirked at him, but before he could make a witty comeback, his girlfriend interrupted .

"Sonic! Your arm!" Amy bit her lip and examined the huge gash cutting into Sonic's fur and skin, as gushes of crimson liquid ran down his tan arm. She pulled out a hanky and started dabbing at the huge gash that was bleeding like crazy.

Sonic pulled away a little. "Amy, I'm alright…"

Amy pouted and gripped his arm harder, still wiping at the blood. "Oh Sonic, hold still for_ once_ in your life!"

Sonic looked up at the sky. "_A_-my, you're embarrassing me…"

"That's her job," Tails said, smiling a little.

Sonic glanced at him. "Did you get any info on your drive?"

"Oh! Right. I hid it out here," the fox said and started looking under the leaves where he hid it.

Meanwhile, Rouge watched Sonic and Amy quietly, a little touched by her affection for him. No...she wasn't envious. I mean...she really didn't _need_ a guy. It wasn't something she required.

_But I wouldn't mind having one..._

Inevitably, her eyes drifted toward Knuckles. He'd been looking at her, but diverted his eyes immediately. Was he thinking the same thing? Did his heart beat for her? She would have to ask him, to get the truth.

On the corner of the forest, Tails raked through the pile of leaves again, overturning the same ones, but still...no dice. He was absolutely positive he'd placed it here, right by this old oak tree. And it couldn't have just walked away….

Tails looked up sheepishly, embarrassed to admit that he'd lost the one thing they'd come for. The team was all looking at him expectantly, too, making it worse. Tails couldn't believe he'd ruined this mission so much. First he'd left Amy and Rouge and now he'd lost the drive, their entire reason for coming.

_I'm such a failure. _

He scratched his head, avoiding eye contact. "Well, I could have_ sworn_ it was right here…"

"It's _gone?_" Rouge asked.

"But we couldn't have been in there for more than a few minutes!" Sonic protested.

"Are you _sure_ this is where you left it?" Amy asked.

Tails bit his lip. "I'm pretty sure…"

"Great. All that for nothing," Knuckles grumbled. "Well, what are we going to do now? You want to try again, Tails?

He shook his head, but stared at the ground. "No, Eggman's on alert now. It's okay. It was a bad idea, anyway…" Tails said, sounding a little melancholy. He then twirled his tails, propelling himself off, by himself, without another word.

Amy frowned. "Wow. Is it just me or has Tails been feeling a bit down lately?"

_Ames...you know why he is... _"I think you're right. He'll be okay, though," Sonic said, if just to reassure himself and Amy. He couldn't help but feel a twinge of inexplicable guilt.

"So...what are we doing now?" Knuckles asked, shifting his weight and avoiding Rouge's eyes.

Rouge, glad for the opportunity, walked over to the echidna and grabbed his hand, a smile playing at her lips. "_We_ are going to have a talk."

Knuckles turned red, and his plum hued eyes flew open. The absolute_ last _thing he wanted to do right now was talk to Rouge. And yet...he felt obligated. And part of him...wanted to talk to her. Still, an unfamiliar feeling tore at his heart. Was that what...fear was?

"Fine," he said, and ripped his hand from hers, even though it wasn't unpleasant to hold it. Still, Sonic and Amy were there, and he was NOT going soft. He swore it.

Sighing again, the guardian followed after the bat girl thief, wondering what in the world he'd gotten himself into...

Meanwhile, the hedgehog couple, who were now done attending to Sonic's arm, looked after them, he gawking, she beaming.

Amy sighed in happiness. "Aren't they _so great_ together?"

"Are you _kidding_?" Sonic shook his head. "Something tells me those two won't work out."

The pink hedgehog smirked. "Oh, they _will, don't worry._"

A mild stab of fear pierced Sonic's heart at those word. He knew Amy too well: she was going to try and hook them up. And nothing good could come from that.

Sonic turned to his girlfriend so he looked right into her deep green eyes, willing her to trust him. "Amy, I want you to promise me something."

Amy looked scared for a second. Sonic never looked this serious!

"What is it?" she asked, her voice soft, worried she might have done something.

"Promise me you won't get involved in their relationship."

Amy blinked. "Why not?"

"Because..." Sonic sighed, but let himself smile. "You know them. They might get...angry. I don't want you to go through their pains."

Amy frowned. She wanted them together so bad! But there was no way she could refuse Sonic. And besides, she knew he just wanted to protect her. "Okay, I won't."

Sonic let out a sigh of relief and his grin took over his whole muzzle. "Thanks. Now..." The hedgehog cradled his girl in his arms, smiling as she nuzzled into his chest. He _loved_ it when she did that. "Let's see if we can cheer Tails up."

...xxx...

**I'm proud of my additions to this chapter. It's hard to believe this one was originally only 800 words, and now it's almost 4000. :O But not only that, the original story was only 14,000 words...and this one is already over 14,000...and I'm not even halfway done with this story. Holy snickerdoodles... :O  
**

**Next chapter won't be for a while, I'm going on vacation this weekend and then I have to deal with judging my contest. (It'll be hard to pick among all the amazing entries!) Eeek! I hope to have another chapter for you all soon, thanks for reading so far! ;)**


	6. The Knouge Scene

**GalexiatheChao, Jacklethekitsune, Mana the Cat Magician, IHeartSonAmy, Koollolly, The Writer's Freedom Project, ItsStephanyx3: Thanks guys! Just to let you all know, in the spirit of my original story, I'm keeping the same bad chapter name for this one. It's so bland...but why not keep it? I originally chose this name because I couldn't think of anything else to name it...and I have that same problem now. x3  
**

...xxx...**  
**

Chapter 6: The Knouge Scene

...xxx...

High heeled boots made little dents in the squishy mud, followed by red and yellow shoes that made them deeper. Sometimes the echidna would walk right in Rouge's footsteps, sometimes he would avoid them completely. But either way, on the walk following the bat through the forest so they could have their little talk...Knuckles had very firmly convinced himself that he was_ not_ attracted to Rouge after all. Sure, he'd felt something when she'd grabbed his hand...and when he'd caught her...and when she was about to kiss him... but he was just _surprised_ was all. It certainly was nothing more than that. This guy was just not used to..._contact _from a girl before. Now, he'd just tell her he wasn't interested and head back to Angel Island. To his accursed Emerald and duty that ruled his solitary life.

The echidna sighed, but it came out more rough, like a grunt. He was trying very hard not to stare at Rouge's back too much, but he'd never noticed how graceful her wings were. It was hard to believe that something that delicate could be strong enough to lift anyone. His eyes traced all of their jagged points, trying desperately to focus on the wings and not on the _rest_ of her body...

_Just stop, Knuckles. Stop. Tell her that you're not interested in her. _

_But what if I **am** interested? _

_You can't be. _

He let out another struggled grunt, hoping the effort would solve his dilemma somehow, but the noise merely prompted Rouge turn around to face him. Not wanting to run her over, Knuckles came to a stop. So did his heart.

She was, by far, the most beautiful girl he'd seen in his life. Oversized yet cute ears stuck out the top of her white furred head. A subtle smirk, formed by her pink-painted lips, curved over her muzzle. Shiny teal eyes, framed by thick eyelashes, were aimed right at Knuckles and pierced his soul like daggers. Suddenly Knuckles found he couldn't say a single thing; all he could do was just stare. Not able to stop himself, Knuckles' eyes traced her curvy body.

_Snap out of it! What are you thinking? You're acting pathetic._

He desperately tried to shake off his awe to say something, _anything._ But what? _You're really beautiful_. No, okay, he couldn't say that. _Go away and stop bothering me?_ No, he certainly didn't want to let this girl out of his sight. So that left him with just a glazed over, dumb expression.

As if by habit, Rouge struck a bit of a pose, feeling a tad uncomfortable but still very flattered. So her charm was finally beginning to work on this one. Her smirk grew wider.

"Well, you just gonna _stare_ or are you going to _say_ something?" Her deep words dripped smoothly of her tongue, sending a chill up Knuckles' spine.

This woke the guardian up a bit. Blinking, the perpetual frown darkened his muzzle as he tore his gaze from the bat to the much less exciting pair of sneakers on his feet.

"You're the one that wanted to talk," he said quietly, surprised his vocal chords worked, but still hating how very weak he sounded.

Rouge crossed her arms over her chest. _Now's the time, girl. You have to ask him. Just to see if maybe he really does have some feelings for you. _

"Well. Let's see. There's this guy that I've liked for awhile now," she paused to catch his reaction, and had to smile when she saw a blush crawl up his cheeks. "And one day he saves me from almost being killed by Sonic and gives me this gorgeous necklace just out of the blue. And I'm wondering…._why_? I'm wondering if he actually does like me, too, or if it's just some sort of game..."

His heart now racing, Knuckles tried not to panic. What was he supposed to say now? What did he really feel anyway? Half of him wanted to hold her in his arms more gently than he'd held anything, the other half wanted to deck her in the face for being so forward with him. He hated to admit it, but the former was winning.

_Wait...did she say she's liked me for a while? She really does like me? I...she likes** me**? _That's...wow. _But why did she have to flirt and pretend that she just wanted the Emerald? Why didn't she tell me this before...  
_

He could feel her eyes on his face, waiting for a reply. Oh, a _reply_? Knuckles kept staring at the ground. He really, really didn't do feelings well. This was nowhere near his alley, his strong point. But still, he had to say something now. Clenching his fists, Knuckles slowly let his eyes meet hers again. For a moment he thought he saw some _vulnerability_ there...

The echidna sighed. "I don't know what to say, Rouge," he said honestly. "I don't know why I bought you that necklace."

"I think I might have an idea," Rouge said, but the tone of her voice had changed to be almost eager.

_I do, too. And it scares me_. Was that it? Fear? Fear that being in love would make him compromise his very reason for existence: his guardianship? But no...Knuckles was never afraid of anything. He couldn't let himself be.

So for a_ brief_ second Knuckles allowed his imagination to run wild, to picture Rouge as his girlfriend. His girlfriend. A girl that would be just his. Knuckles had never had anything like that before. Maybe he had friends...but this was a little different. She would certainly add some excitement to his life.

_Are you crazy? C'mon Knux_, **_get freaking real_**. _I mean, you're not even the same species! Rouge isn't an echidna, remember? Besides, aren't you forgetting something? The Master Emerald? _

_That's all she wants from you anyway. _

_Truly._

He couldn't allow himself to get wrapped up in this mushy mess. Knuckles would just have to remain firm. Committed to his duty. No matter what._  
_

"Never mind. Forget this ever happened," Knuckles said gruffly, turning every intention of just walking away from her, alone. He didn't need this. He didn't _want_ this.

_"Wait."_

At this simple request, Knuckles froze and slowly turned to face the bat. Rouge hated how so very young and needy she'd sounded with that word, but it had slipped out almost involuntarily: her heart had sunk when he'd rejected her, yet again. For a second there she thought… just maybe… he would give in this time. Just maybe, he'd let her kiss him, and he'd hold her...

As Rouge studied his dreadlock quills and clenched fists, she couldn't help but be reminded that Knuckles wasn't like all the other guys she'd tried to woo. True, just like the others he had something she wanted: what caused them to meet and her initial attraction was his gigantic Emerald, but still. He was different. He had morals. He was a hero. He was selfless. He had made a commitment and remained undeterred. And most of all, he didn't _want_ her, he didn't slobber over her. Or if he did on the inside, he did an admirable job of controlling himself. And that was why Rouge found her heart set on him...because he wasn't like all the other guys.

But still, there was something about her own attachment to him that scared Rouge a little. She was used to stealing hearts, not giving hers away. She wasn't used to the tables being turned on her like this.

Knuckles, who'd been halfway turned around, started turning to face back away from her. Rouge suddenly became very aware that he could leave any moment and then her chance would be gone. What could she say? Only the first thing that came to mind.

"This isn't about the necklace, Knuckie...it's about you and me."

Knuckles huffed. "That's strange. Because with you, it's always about the jewels. And _yourself_," he spat.

His words cut like a knife right through Rouge's heart, that organ that was slowly becoming softer and able to be rended. Feeling a sudden pressure, Rouge had to close her eyes. It really wouldn't hurt so much if it wasn't true and coming from one of the few people she actually cared about...

_Yes, Rouge, you actually do care about him. _

As soon as the words left his mouth, Knuckles regretted them. It didn't matter that they were absolutely true, he still felt like a jerk. But it was too late; he'd already said them.

_But Knuckles, when was the last time you felt bad about an insult? Besides, she definitely deserved that one. It was true Name one redeemable quality she has. Just one! _

He ignored the internal protests, swallowing his pride and common sense. "Sorry, I shouldn't have-"

Rouge's eyelids parted, revealing her moistened eyes. Knuckles stopped talking in shock. What was that shine in her eyes? Couldn't be tears. Couldn't be-

"_Don't be_," she said roughly, almost like she was choking, and took wing.

Knuckles panicked. He couldn't let her get away, let that be the last thing she thought about him. "Wait!" He cried and jumped to grab her hand, pulling her more roughly than he meant. His strength ended up sending the bat crashing down to the ground, but Knuckles used his other hand to help bring her back to her feet.

"Let go of me, you dirty rotten pervert!" Rouge bellowed and tried to rip her hand from his tight grasp, but couldn't; he was _so strong._

Still, she couldn't bare to look at him. Rouge couldn't believe she was actually _crying_, over just some simple words that he'd spoken to her before, in any one of their fights. What had changed since then? She'd never been more ashamed in her life.

It was an awkward scene: Knuckles firmly gripping her hand but she was still facing away from him, tears on her cheeks.

_Get a grip, girl. This is not the way to impress him. Use your charm now...play the victim, he'll be eating out of your hand..._ Rouge used her free hand to wipe at her eyes and then finally met his indigo eyes, surprised at the concern reflected in them.

Her bloodshot eyes revealed to Knuckles that she _had_ been crying. Was she really that sensitive? Either way, now he just felt terrible. She probably hated him now, maybe even more so. Why was this so upsetting to him?

"Hey, I'm sorry," he repeated.

Rouge sniffed. "You were right." She tried to pull her hand away, but Knuckles was too strong.

Suddenly she really didn't want him to let go...she was enjoying the feeling too much. She could feel those elusive fingers underneath his glove stroking her own knuckles.

_Her knuckles. _

She had to smile at that thought, but little did she know that her upturned lips warmed the heart of a certain rock-hearted guardian. Almost by default, he slowly returned the favor.

What? Knuckles _was smiling_? At _her_?

As the echidna studied her face, feeling his heart warm, he knew then. Something about this girl was very different from the others. She just gave him this feeling, this desire unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. And it was getting harder and harder to fight it.

_Why fight it anymore, Knux? It's obviously not going anywhere...this girl is always going to be there..._

"Rouge, I think…" Knuckles said, then paused. "I think I may be in love with you."

The bat gasped at this confession. A weirdly pleasant feeling danced in her heart. Did he really care about her? Did he really?

As she studied his sincere dark plum eyes, there was one thing she knew for sure...he certainly wasn't trying to fool her. He certainly wasn't playing any games with her. If this guy said something, he_ meant_ it. He was just being brutally honest Knuckles.

Which meant...he did really care for her. This whole time.

_You got a weird way of showing it Knuckie...but...I really...don't...care..._

Knuckles was still holding her hand, although more loosely now. Rouge smiled at him and brought her hand up to his face, mirroring her earlier action, but this time actually making contact. His muzzle was so smooth, so soft...she let her fingers linger on it for a minute.

"I think… I think I may be in love with you, too."

_Oh boy..._

Breaking down all his barriers that had been built brick by brick of common sense, Knuckles let go of Rouge's hand and placed both of his large, gloved ones on her delicate waist. She shivered at his touch, but the echidna kept moving forward until his hands were now linked right underneath her wings.

His movement caused Rouge's to shift her hand from his face, tracing up into his quills, letting them rest between her fingers. When she realized just how close their faces and lips were at that moment, though, her breath caught in her throat...

_But Rouge..._

_Knuckles, you can't..._

_Oh, shut up I don't care!_ Both mentally screamed at their consciences, then buried all other thoughts to get lost in each other.

Realizing it'd be better for her to make the first move, Rouge took the initiative and leaned forward, puckering her lips slightly before gently pressing them against Knuckles'.

His first kiss...oh man...never would he have dreamed that it would feel this nice, this wonderful, this powerful. Pleasure flooded his body as Rouge's lips brushed up against his, opening and closing on top of his lips. Dang she was good...but not to be outdone, Knuckles leaned deeper into her lips himself, taking over and firmly, passionately kissing her back.

Rouge was a bit taken back by his aggression, but then remembered who it was and smiled. She was actually kissing _Knuckles_, at this very moment. And she really couldn't be happier.

Her lungs started burning, but Rouge couldn't resist another good long kiss before pulling away. Knuckles exhaled sharply into her own panting mouth, but a quick glance into his eyes told Rouge she had pleased him very much. And she wasn't feeling too bad herself.

...xxx...

**Well...I certainly did add more detail to this one. And before you scream about what they're going to _do_ or whatever... guys, this is rated K plus, okay? Okay, good. =) **


	7. Found and Lost

**poka, Jacklethekitsune, Novus Umbra, GalexiatheChao, 01sonamy0, ultimateCCC, IHeartSonAmy: Eek! Fast update, I know. I'll say more at the end of the chapter. By the way, the title was supposed to be a pun on 'lost and found' but the structure of the chapter is backwards. You'll see...  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 7: Found and Lost

...xxx...**  
**

"It's awful strange that someone would just leave a drive in a pile of leaves like that," Espio muttered to himself as he studied the small gray box. It certainly wasn't the type of thing one could just go and buy at a local store; the drive was obviously very high tech and maybe even custom made. But if it was so valuable, then why did its owner just leave it to rot in a forsaken corner of the forest? Odd.

"I know," Charmy's way too high-pitched voice broke the chameleon's thoughts, but that was nothing new. The bee used his wings to flutter around the Espio's head, his yellow eyes gaping at the computer drive. "I wonder whose it is?"

"I'm sure a trip back to the agency to check it out will tell us," the third member of their group, a large but very unintimidating crocodile, said confidently.

"It's probably Eggman's since we found it near-" Charmy's voice was cut off as he crashed squarely into Vector's pointy back, who for whatever reason had decided to randomly stop in front of Charmy.

"Hey, what's the big idea?" the bee protested after peeling himself off of Vector.

"Shush!" Vector hissed, one of his green arms pointed to beyond the row of bushes in front of them. "Look!"

Espio and Charmy followed his gloved finger, but upon seeing the shocking sight Vector was pointing out, their eyes grew as wide as saucers. The three detectives immediately hit the deck, awkwardly and not very subtly hiding. Their distinct heads peeked over the bushes, gaping with open mouths at something none of them had ever thought they'd see.

"Do you see what I see?" Vector hissed in his quietest voice, which was around 60 decibels.

"_Knuckles and Rouge_?" Charmy said incredulously.

About 30 or so feet away, the famous echidna and bat were in each others arms, kissing very deeply. Espio wanted to cover Charmy's eyes lest the boy lose his innocence, but when the bee zipped upwards to get a better look, he figured it was already too late for that.

"Yuck," Charmy said way too loudly, gagging like a school boy. "…who'd a thunk_ they'd_ ever get together? I don't understand this icky love stuff."

"I always knew it would happen," Vector said, raising his head up proudly. "With my finely toned detective skills, I figured out way in advance that those two would get together. I'm not surprised at all!"

Espio sighed at his erratic colleagues and tore his gaze away from the new couple.

"Vector, I really think we should just move on," he said in a serious, business-like tone to his boss. "Remember last time we did something like this?"

Simultaneously, the the Chaotix all flashback to that day not so long ago, when their spaceship had malfunctioned, leaving the detectives lost in space with a broken ship. Luckily, they managed to come across the Blue Typhoon and it's incredibly brilliant captain, who was willing to fix their ship for them. Left with nothing to do, Vector had decided to "repay" Tails by trying to hook him up with Cosmo, whom the fox was obviously crushing on. Unfortunately, all the crocodile's plans had failed miserably, and one involving Knuckles and bad makeup had backfired severely. Needless to say, playing love detective had left a slight bad taste in all of their mouths. Not that they weren't willing to do jobs involving love again, but certainly not any ones involving Knuckles.

"You know, I think we should actually listen to Espio this time," Charmy said, tearing his gaze from Knuckles and Rouge, who were still kissing.

"That'd be a first," the chameleon quipped.

"Let's go," Vector agreed, and the 3 detectives continued back to the agency to check out the mysterious drive.

...xxx...

Twirling yellow-orangish tails ceased from their speedy helicopter-type function to finally regain their more bushy appearance. The foxes weight was shifted to red and white striped shoes that sunk softly into the muddy ground right outside his workshop. His blue eyes were lifeless, though, as he pulled a shiny, cold metal key out of his glove to unlock the place and slip inside.

To do...what? Where had he not failed today?

He sighed as he looked around, mentally listing his options. Fix up the X-Tornado? Not while he was feeling so uninspired. Find out more about Metal Sonic? Hmph, he didn't get the information he needed. Go visit someone? Huh, Sonic was busy with his _girlfriend_, Knuckles too, and he couldn't bear to see Cream right now, not when the rabbit would just be so cheery...

Nope. It would just be another boring day in the life of Miles Prower. Another day of just feeling sorry for himself, letting his mind go back over and over of that day. Wishing that somehow, he could have prevented it, could have done something different. Somehow.

His eyes fell on the only sunny corner of the building, squinting at the dust particles dancing in the bright rays that illuminated the only living thing in the workshop save himself.

_I'm just a glutton for punishment, aren't I?_

As if they had a mind of their own, his red and white shoes carried him over to the plant nestled on top of the table. But it had no words for him, no smile, no laughter, no gorgeous blue eyes. It just stood there, it's little sprout almost mocking him by how lovely, how delicate it was. It reminded him of her too much.

Still, Tails was taking good care of the plant, if only because he felt obligated. It had grown pretty rapidly over the past week since… well, since he'd planted it.

Trying to remember if he'd watered it yet today, Tails went over to one of his computers that had the info he was keeping on the plant. His fingers flew across the keyboard, trying to find the files...they weren't there, on this computer. Huh? It hit him like a flash as he then remembered he'd moved them onto an external drive -

He froze as the realization of what he'd done hit him. That was the same drive that he'd used for the Metal Sonic info and was now lost.

A fuzzy orange and white face fell into his gloved hands as anguish flooded his heart.

_This is **so** not my day. What's wrong with me? I'm never this disorganized. Never. I always knew just what I was doing... I just...wanted to... do what was right... so why does it hurt... so much?  
_

"Hey Tails."

_Sonic?_ Oooooh, why did he seriously have to bother him when he was at his most intense, most emotional moments? The fox didn't move from his position. "Sonic, just leave me alone," he said softly, hoping the hedgehog would take the hint. _"Please?"_

Gentle footsteps headed in his direction, slowly getting louder. If Tails had been alert, he would have noticed there were two sets. "What's wrong, buddy?"

_What's right, Sonic? _

Slowly, he turned around and lifted his head, hoping his expression would convey his desire to be alone more than words could. Unfortunately, all that did was give Tails a glimpse of not just one, but two very concerned looking hedgehogs, staring at him and holding hands. Sonic was with Amy. _With. _

A sudden anger filled Tails, and he exploded. "What's _wrong_! _What do you mean what's wrong?_ I lose_ all _my files and make a total_ fool of myself _by leaving the girls behind and you have the_ guts_ to march in here and ask what's _wrong_? I've had to listen to you and Amy _go gaga_ over each other and now even _Knuckles_ has a_ girlfriend_ and all I have is a_ PLANT!"_

His rage saturated words echoed off the half-finished machines of the workshop. There would have been a steady silence if his breathing wasn't so heavy. _  
_

Sonic's jaw dropped to the floor at this outburst. Tails was _never_ this upset. Never. The fox had always been one of Sonic's most emotionally stable friends. He knew the little guy was upset over what happened, but he didn't think it'd be affecting him this much...

"And_ I _was the one who killed her! Me, Sonic! _I'm the murderer_! It's not fair!" Tails started shaking, his whole body now affected by his emotional overkill.

"_Tails_-" Amy said gently.

"NO!" he snapped at one shocked pink hedgehog. "I _don't_ wanna hear it, okay? You two have each other, _just leave me alone!"_

Shameful tears now clouding his vision, Tails ran off into a side room, slamming the door behind him so fast it almost caught his tails in the threshold. Sonic immediately took off after him but Tails had been too fast even for the fastest thing alive. Sonic played with the door handle, but it caught on the lock, leaving the hedgehog with a wall between him and his hurting best friend.

Darn.

Sonic leaned up against the door. "Tails, if it makes you feel any better, you didn't kill Cosmo. I did." He paused, then considered something. "Well, Shadow helped."

The only response was quiet, muffled sobs coming from the other room. Sonic sighed. What could he do? He just didn't know. He'd tried to tell Tails that there really was nothing anyone could do, so he'd just have to get over it, but now he saw that that hadn't helped Tails any. The fox was just too emotionally invested in the situation. And he hadn't been blessed with Sonic's carefree, worry-free attitude. Or atleast he didn't have the lifestyle to develop it. While part of him felt lucky for this trait, another part of him felt guilty. How many times had he simply left people hurting, just because he didn't want to deal with it?

Almost by instinct, he looked back at Amy, who was frowning in his direction. Sonic never would have considered that getting with Amy would have yet another side effect: making Tails more upset by reminding him what would never be his.

_So there's how many strikes against this relationship Sonic? _

He steeled his expression. _Even if there were a hundred, they're not going to make me give her up. Nothing will. Cause she has my heart, and love makes no sense..._

Amy attempted a light smile in his direction, trying to cheer up Sonic. She could tell the hedgehog was in one of his very rare pensive moods, and didn't look too happy. The girl went over to the plant that had grown from Cosmo's seed Sonic had miraculously found. She remembered that day so perfectly, just like everyone else did. The way Cream and Cheese had gripped her, sobbing just as much as she was. But neither of their sadness could match Tails' anguish.

Amy couldn't even imagine being put in that situation. If she had been given that choice, the world or Sonic... what a toughie. But as her green eyes studied the delicate little plant and Tails' words echoed in her mind, Amy decided right then and there, that she would choose _Sonic._ The world could be harsh, could be evil, and though it was mostly good, Amy knew that there was no way she could live without her crush, her boyfriend, her hero. He was the one thing that kept her going, kept her sane (and somewhat insane). Ironically, he was the one thing that made her feel safe. And most of all, he had her heart. So Amy would stick with him, no matter what. Because ultimately,_ love was a choice_. And Amy had made hers.

She'd been so lost in her thoughts that Amy barely noticed a strong arm wrap around her shoulders, comforting and reassuring her. Amy leaned against Sonic, nuzzling into his furry chest for strength.

"We all miss her," Amy whispered sadly.

Sonic soothingly stroked her quills before planting a kiss on her forehead. "Yeah. Tails most of all."

"What should we do to cheer him up?"

The blue hedgehog sighed, his breath ruffling Amy's bang quills. "I don't know that there's much we can do."

Amy frowned. "But Sonic...we can't just let him keep crying and being upset like this." she paused, wracking her brain for ideas. "Oh, I know. Why don't we have a party... and invite everyone? We can have games. And food. That'll help him forget maybe." Ideas for the party flooded her head, excitement replacing some of her sadness.

Sonic nodded. "That's a good idea. A party'll be fun anyway." A smile finally overcame his lips as a pleasant thought entered his head. "But on one condition."

"What is it, Sonic?"

Sonic felt heat on his muzzle at the memory, and now regretting he'd said anything. Darn... what would Amy think of him now?

Amy looked up at him, and had to smile at a glimpse of his red cheeks. He was _adorable _when he got all shy.

"You... have to wear... that dress," he said cryptically, hoping Amy got his drift.

Amy beamed. She knew _exactly_ what he was talking about. "Of course, Sonic."

"Great," he winked at her, relieved that she'd kept that gorgeous gown after all this time. The girl looked even more stunning than usual in it. "Now we need to tell everyone…I'll tell Knuckles and Rouge."

"I'll tell Cream and Vanilla. Oh, and the Chaotix, too. They'll help lighten up the party."

Sonic nodded and smirked, glad for a lighter moment, but had to look back at the closed door Tails had run into.

Amy followed his gaze. "Maybe we should wait until he calms down."

"Right." Sonic straightened himself, loosing his grip of Amy so the girl now stood in front of him. He smiled at her. "Well, let's go tell everyone then." He was about to leave when he thought of something. "Wait, where are we going to have the party?"

"We could use my house." Amy shrugged.

Sonic cocked his head. "You sure?"

"Yeah. It was my idea."

"Alrighty then. I'll be over later to help. Now, do you need a ride anywhere? To Cream's maybe?"

Amy giggled and leaned forward to kiss him right on his sweet lips. "Oh Sonic, you're such a sweetie."

"Heh," Sonic laughed awkwardly, but took that as a yes and cradled Amy bridal style to run and announce Operation CUT: (Cheer Up Tails) to all their friends.

...xxx...

**The Chaotix are in this story purely for comic relief from the otherwise very somber Tails moments. Don't worry, there is going to be_ plenty_ more fluff and humor in this story. Trust me. ^_^**

**The biggest thing I added to this chapter were Sonic and Amy's thoughts about Tails' situation. I sorta wanted to portray that it'd make them think a little harder about their relationship and maybe cut down the mushiness a tad, yet still not regret anything, and decide to stick with the other no matter what. Because yes, love is a choice. Anyway, I'll stop preaching now.**

**And I hope you all caught not just the Sonic X allusions, but the Sonic 06 one! ("If I had to choose between the world and Sonic...I'd choose Sonic!")  
**

**I hope you all see now why I wanted to rewrite this thing. My idea was good, but there were so many things I didn't explore that I could have. I'm having a lot of fun with this, and hope you all are liking it! ^_^ And sorry for the previous technical difficulties, hopefully this site has fixed those now. **


	8. Preparations

**Jacklethekitsune, GalexiatheChao, ultimateCCC, poka, zeldaskeeper, Mana the Cat Magician, Novus Umbra, The Writer's Freedom Project, IHeartSonAmy, 01sonamy01, ItsStephanyx3: Ugh..I know, I feel horrible for Tails, too. I see some of you are tired of reading about his angst, but I'm sorry: You all seemed to like the old one, so I'm keeping the same structure/plot. Besides, I needed to add that one little scene, to not only set up for Sonic and Amy's thoughts and resolve, but also to set up the coming party. There won't be much more angst in this story. **

**It may seem like I'm just doing 4 completely different plots, but hey, it's boring and too easy to do just one. Besides, you should appreciate how I can tie them all together. The three groups, if you will, are all playing off of each other: Sonic and Amy as well as Tails are the back drop for Knuckles and Rouge, and just add to their struggles. Sonic and Amy are watching Tails be upset and are about to see Knuckles and Rouge get together, but that just strengthens their relationship. And watching his friends pair up just makes Tails more sad. It all flows together.  
**

**Now... more humor, fluff, and action on the way! Because I need to get out of my sad mood, dang it!**

...xxx...

Chapter 8: Preparations

...xxx...

_"Password?_" Vector growled at the obstinate computer screen, frustrated that it wasn't letting him access the drive. "Oh, c'mon! Why do you need a freaking _password_?"

"If they were dumb enough to just leave it on the ground, at least they were smart enough to use a password," Charmy grumbled as he buzzed around the crocodile's head.

"Allow me," Espio said, and tried to reach over Vector's hands to try and hack into the drive, but was interrupted by their doorbell ringing.

"Charmy, can you get that?" Vector asked as Espio unplugged the drive to hide it from their visitor.

The bee got up buzzed over to the door, swinging it open to reveal one giddy pink hedgehog.

"Oh, hi, Amy," Charmy said.

The girl walked in, beaming.

"What can we do for you, miss?" Vector asked, turning from his computer chair to inspect their new customer.

Amy took the designated seat facing the Chaotix and smoothed down the hem of her dress after crossing her furry pink legs. "Well, a few things, but first of all you're all invited to a party I'm throwing at my house tonight."

"Oh boy, a _party_!" Charmy said excitedly, visions of cake, ice cream, and cookies flying through his head.

Espio frowned a little, reading between the lines. "And what would you want us to do at this party?" he asked, raising his brow.

Amy giggled. "Well, have fun of course. But really, it's for Tails." A light frown overcame her face. "He's been depressed lately, so we're trying to make him feel better."

Vector tilted his head and nodded. "Is that it?"

Amy bit her lip. Should she really be doing this? "I also have a bit of a...job for you all."

Vector snapped to attention and leaned forward. "The Chaotix detective agency is at your service!

Amy kept gnawing at her lip. "Weeell, see, I have this…_friend_…"

The detectives exchanged suspicious, knowing glances.

_Friend. _

_**Right**_**.**

"And well… " Amy continued, "She likes this guy. And he's kinda...obstinate. I want them together so bad but I promised that _I_ wouldn't interfere in their relationship. And I was thinking... maybe you guys could do something."

_Could she be anymore obviously be talking about herself?_

Espio frowned deeper. "Sorry, Amy, but we don't do-"

"Don't worry, Amy!" Vector loudly interrupted his much more sensible colleague. "We'll take care of this!"

"_But Vector_-" Espio hissed at him.

"_Be quiet Espio_!" Vector hissed right back, then turned to Amy. "Just make sure your, ahem, _friend_, is there with the guy and we'll make something happen!"

Amy tilted her head, a little confused. "But wait, you don't know who I'm talking about-"

"Of course I do! We're detectives remember?" Vector gave her a huge, toothy grin, baring his pointy teeth.

_"Okay_," Amy said, but she had a really bad feeling about this.

_What about your promise to Sonic? _

She shrugged off the thought by standing up. "Well, I should really start getting everything ready for the party. I have a ton of baking to do although Cream and her mom said they'd help me out."

Vector perked up slightly at the mention of Vanilla, but the others' eyes followed Amy as she headed for the door. A thought came to Amy, and she stopped to turn around and face them once again.

"One more thing," she said, her dark green eyes surveying the three of them.

"What is it?" Vector asked.

"_Please_ don't tell _Sonic_ about this, okay?" Amy pleaded, knowing it'd be bad if the hedgehog found out.

"_Oh no_," Vector and Charmy chuckled knowingly, smiling and putting their hands up. "_We won't._"

"Thanks. I'll see you at the party." Amy twirled around and left, hoping what she did was wise.

"I can't believe you, Vector," Espio said to his irascible boss once Amy had slammed the door shut.

"Oh man, was she talking about_ herself _or _what?_" Vector said, ignoring Espio.

A frustrated sigh escaped Espio's lips. It was pointless to argue with Vector when he made up his mind. The croc just never listened. Well, this job sure would be interesting.

"_Of course_ she was talking about herself," Charmy said. "Even _you _could figure that out. But how are we going to get her and Sonic together?"

"We won't," Espio said firmly. "Because she couldn't have been talking about herself."

Vector narrowed his chocolate eyes at the chameleon. "Of course she was Espio! Girls do that 'I-have-a-friend' thing all the time so you won't know they're really talking about themselves!"

"But Amy would_ want_ us to know who she was talking about. If it was Sonic she'd come right out and say it! When has she ever hidden her feelings for him?" Espio pointed out.

"Alright then _Mr. Smarty Pants _who _was_ she talking about?" Vector asked.

Espio paused. Well, that was the problem. But considering that the party really was for Tails, maybe Amy was talking about putting him with Cream now? Ugh. It was way too early for someone that hurt by a relationship to get together with someone. Though Espio could understand, could see why Amy would want that for him. But still...the rebound couldn't help Tails right now. What he needed was just time, relaxation, friends, and acceptance of death as a part of life. Not another lover...not this early. Though Cream could probably give him some friendly help...yes, that's what Espio would do at the party. Find someway to get Tails and Cream talking. The rabbit might be the only one who could help him.

"See?" Vector said triumphantly, not waiting for Espio to respond, and ironically mistaking his silence for ignorance. "When will you realize I'm always right?"

"Uh, Vector...I think you're overlooking something," Charmy said meekly, the details of the mission finally getting into his head.

"Oh that's something new." Espio rolled his eyes.

Vector glared at Espio.

Charmy continued anyway. "How are we gonna get Sonic and Amy together?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'm just brimming with all sorts of wonderful ideas," Vector laughed. "Sonic will be ready to propose to her this very night!"

Charmy blinked. "Sonic is _so_ gonna kill us…"

"So much for, 'we're gonna listen to Espio this time'..." the chameleon muttered.

**...xxx...**

Racing throughout Mobius, stirring up fallen leaves and ruffling the carpet of flowers below him, Sonic had just a few things on his mind. And although they were serious, they weren't heavy enough to slow him down any. First of all, his good buddy Tails: would this party cheer him up? And if not...they'd just have to wait until he felt better. Unfortunately.

Then, Knuckles and Rouge. Okay, what in the _world_ happened there? Those two...were about as opposite as they come. And Knuckles? Who would have thought he'd ever, ever fall_ in love_? And with _Rouge?_ The bat girl whom he swore on the Master Emerald that he hated her guts? It was simply illogical.

And then, there was simply _Amy_. Now _that_ brought a smile to Sonic's face like nothing else except running could. Why, the girl was climbing up his list of favorite things faster and faster now. (She was right below his number one, running itself, and just above chili dogs and adventure). A party was simply a brilliant idea, and a way to get everyone together to straighten some things out. And Amy had thought of it so quickly. She just knew the perfect way to make everyone feel better, didn't she?

Unfortunately, Sonic couldn't let his thoughts linger on her for too long. He had to find the infamous new couple to let them know about the party. Would they even come now? That was the question. And would they be together once he found them? Sonic wasn't quite sure he wanted to _walk in_ on them...Then again, Sonic highly doubted they'd be together when he found them. But then again, what did he know about relationships?

_Just that I'm lovin' life cause of Amy right now. _And that was good enough for this hedgehog.

After quickly searching the forest where he and Amy had left them and coming up empty, Sonic headed to the one spot you could could count on Knuckles always being: Angel Island. Sure enough, he found Knuckles there, lying in front of his Master Emerald, staring at the sky, obviously thinking.

Alone.

Sonic skidded to a halt at the bottom of the ruins, creating a light squeak as the friction protested against his red sneakers. He called up to the dozing echidna. "Hey Knuckles!"

The startled echidna jumped to his feet and looked down. Oh, just him. "Hey Sonic."

Sonic scaled the stairs in no time to stand next to his friend, sizing him up. As he got closer, though, he noticed something pink smeared around Knuckles' mouth. Sonic stared at it for a second, then he realized the only thing that it could be.

_Lipstick. _

Whoa.

_Oh man... that means him and Rouge have been... **kissing**. Whoa... Should I tell him that he has lipstick on his mouth? What if he came to the party like that? Oh man…that'd be so** hilarious**, but... I better. _

"Hey, uh, you might wanna, heh, wipe your muzzle off…" Sonic said, firmly pressing his lips together, trying not to laugh.

"Huh?" Knuckles frowned a little, but brought his glove up to his face to wipe it. He moved it in front of his face to examine whatever Sonic could be talking about. His only reaction to seeing the pink lipstick smeared on his hand was to turn redder than his fur.

_On man, I am **never **living this one down..._

"So…what were we saying?" Knuckles managed to say, though he was mortified.

Sonic smirked at him and crossed his arms as he veiled his jade eyes. But this was just too good to pass up getting to tease Knuckles. Sonic was in a bit of a sassy mood. "I was just gonna let you know Amy is having a party tonight and yer welcome to come. That is, if you're not already _busy_…"

Sonic dodged the resulting punch just in time, rapidly hopping to the side to avoid Knuckles' fury manifesting through his fists. Still, he couldn't resist smirking at Knuckles.

"It's not what you think, Sonic," Knuckles growled at him, clenching his fists and narrowing his eyes in anger.

"Okay, man, whatever you say, heh heh heh" Sonic chuckled. "So you coming tonight?"

Knuckles looked away, his enthusiasm sorely lacking. "I guess."

Sonic tilted his head, his cockiness disappearing. "See, it's kinda for Tails. We're trying to cheer him up."

Knuckles looked away. That certainly didn't make him feel any better. Giving his heart to Rouge went against all common sense. He knew he liked her for purely superficial reasons, but once she had been in his arms he couldn't help himself. Her lips were so smooth, her face was so beautiful... all that pressure of resisting her had just exploded into that one time, and he'd just let himself hold her, kiss her... it had been wonderful. Honestly, he had no idea where their relationship stood at this point, but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be the same between them anymore.

But having Sonic find out about his weakness was worse. There wasn't anyone Knuckles respected more, even though Sonic could be very annoying. But they'd fought side by side numerous times. Sonic was like a brother to him. Truly one of his only friends, along with Tails.

"Hey Knux?"

_"Yeah what_?" Knuckles hated brooding around like this. It didn't suit him. _Darn that beautiful, captivating, amazing, gorgeous bat_.

"You doing okay?"

Knuckles huffed at this attention. Since when was Sonic all concerned or worried about anything? Amy was seriously rubbing off on him.

"I'm not cut out for this love stuff," he grumbled, not willing to meet the hedgehog's eyes.

Sonic smiled knowingly. "I know whatcha mean. I resisted Amy for so long… but I finally came to question why I was doing it, and... I just decided to give in to her, give her a try. I thought it'd be horrible, but... It hasn't slown me down in the least. Amy has made me really happy, actually. Happier than I've ever been." A grin overcame his face. "You'll see."

Knuckles shook his head, feeling odd and uncomfortable with this conversation. This was seriously not his strong point. "I just feel so… weak around her. And I don't like that."

The hedgehog mused for a second. "Amy's actually ended up making me stronger, Knux."

He snorted in disbelief. "Why's_ that?"_

"Because... now I actually have more of reason to fight. I have something to fight _for,_ even more than I did before, ya know?" Sonic smiled, but shrugged, not willing to dwell on these deep thoughts for too long. "But you gotta decide for yourself. I guess I'll see you tonight then."

Right. Tonight. The party. "Is Rouge gonna be there?"

Sonic couldn't resist another chuckle. "Yep."

Knuckles smiled a little. "Then I might show up."

"Good. It's for Tails, you know."

Then in a gust of wind, Sonic took off to check on Amy, leaving Knuckles to brood some more. Alone.

**...xxx...**

"This is going to be so fun!" Cream said, her sugary sweet voice matching the frosting she was applying to some sugar cookies.

"Chao Chao," Cheese agreed.

"I know, I _can't wait_," Amy said excitedly. Everything was pretty much ready for the party. Cream and Vanilla had helped her clean the house and bake a ton of snacks for everybody. They had cake, cookies, pretzels, chips, dip, chili dogs (of course), and drinks galore. It truly was going to be a ton of fun.

"You're going to stay, right Momma?" Cream asked the older rabbit.

"Oh, I'm sure you kids don't want me hanging around," Vanilla said fondly. She really was getting much too old for these parties.

"We really wouldn't mind," Amy reassured her.

"Oh, no no. I won't spoil your fun," Vanilla said, though part of her wanted to stay.

The kitchen timer went off, and Amy squealed in delight while taking out her last batch of cookies. Double chocolate chip mint. Tails' favorite.

"Alright, these look great!" She glanced at the clock and winced. How had time passed so quickly? They only had 20 minutes! She still had to get herself ready. After all, Sonic would be there, and this time, he'd be spending the whole party with_ her._ She had to squeal again, feeling so happy that Sonic was hers now.

"I'm going to change!" Amy announced and started to rush off to her room.

"Why's that, Amy?" Cream asked, confused.

Amy smiled. "Because Sonic asked me to wear that dress for him."

"Awwwwww, how sweet" Cream said, her chocolate eyes growing wide.

Amy giggled. She loved Sonic. And if he liked that dress, she would wear it for him. It really was sweet of him to mention that he loved it, anyway. Amy was about to head off to her room when the doorbell rang.

"Ah! We're not ready!" Amy yelled in a panic.

Cream looked out the window to identify their first guest, but smiled. "It's just Sonic."

Amy winced. "What do you mean it's _just Sonic_? That's worse! I look awful."

"You look fine, dear," Vanilla reassured the girl.

Amy frowned, fully aware that her quills were probably all tangled and her dress was covered in flour from baking. But still, she wanted to see Sonic. So, brushing off as much of the white powder from her dress as she could, Amy ran to the door and answered it, opening the door to the famous blue hedgehog, and her boyfriend.

"Hey Amy." Sonic grinned at her, melting Amy's heart. He was just so cute... Her heart pounded faster, though, when he leaned forward to gently kiss her on the lips.

"Everything going okay?" Sonic asked casually, his gaze light and loving.

Amy grinned at him like an love crazy idiot. "Yeah. Did you talk to everyone?"

Sonic nodded. "Yep. Knuckles and Rouge are both coming."

"So... how are they?" Amy asked slyly.

"Amy, remember what I told you." Sonic frowned a little.

Amy felt a stab of guilt. "I just wanna know…"

"You'll find out soon enough." He winked at her to let her know it was all good.

Amy nodded. "And Tails?"

Sonic snapped his fingers. "Crap. I forgot about him. I gotta go do that." He scrunched his face up in thought. "Any ideas on what to tell him?"

"Just... don't mention Cosmo unless he does. Let him direct the conversation. Oh," Amy smiled. "And tell him I made double chocolate chip mint cookies. If that doesn't get him to come, nothing will."

Sonic's eyes got wide. "Double chocolate chip mint?"

Amy giggled, loving that look on Sonic's face. "You want one?"

Sonic nodded eagerly. Amy let him into the house and, not wasting any time, he rushed into the kitchen.

"Hey there Mr. Sonic!" Cream said to him cheerfully.

"How's it going, Cream? And hey there, Ms. Vanilla," Sonic greeted the rabbits, but his eyes scanned the cupboard tops for the cookies. He finally spotted the circular shaped, dark brown little pastries. Grinning up a storm, Sonic grabbed a cookie and bit into it. He nearly melted in bliss.

"Mmmmm. That is_ so good," _he gushed, trying not to jump up and down with crazy desire.

Amy smiled, glad she could make Sonic so happy. He finished the cookie with closed eyes, savoring each bite. Once he was finished, he turned to his girl, wrapping her into a gentle hug.

"Thanks Amy. You are by far the best baker on Mobius. You're amazing, ya know that?" he said and kissed her once more, this time letting his lips linger on hers for a while, thanking her deeply. Once he pulled back, he couldn't help but admire her shiny emerald eyes. "I'll be back soon with Tails. Look extra pretty for me, 'kay?" He winked.

"I will."

Amy watched Sonic leave, her heart warm from his displays of affection. She brought her fingers to her lips, where Sonic's had just been, still tasting his lips. How lucky was she to have Sonic the Hedgehog as her boyfriend? Eek, he was just so sweet!

"Amy, you better get ready," Cream reminded her, breaking the girl out of her daze.

After letting out a perfectly contented sigh, the girl nodded and headed into her room. A quick expedition to the back of her closet revealed her special party dress that she'd only worn once. Amy studied the smooth, shiny pink and white fabric, trying to figure out why Sonic had liked it so much. The color on the top half matched her quills perfectly, while the bottom, ruffly part had a more pale pink hue. The trim was white, adding a more simple color to the mix. Amy had always assumed Sonic's favorite color was red, so she wore that as much as she could, but Sonic had loved this dress on her. Maybe she'd ask him at the party why he liked it so much.

Amy peeled off her everyday, normal dress and slipped on the more formal dress in its place, along with its matching long, delicate white gloves that almost reached to her shoulders. Amy then searched for the matching pink heels to wear with it. She really didn't like wearing heels but she couldn't exactly wear her boots with a party dress.

Next Amy took out her headband to redo her somewhat unruly quills. She had to wince, though, as they popped out in all different directions. Amy desperately wished they would grow out but feared her genes just gave her short quills. Plus, female hedgehogs just naturally had shorter quills, as well as none on their back.

_Ah well_. _They'll grow out in time. But until then... I'll wear a headband so I don't look like a freak with my quills sticking out all over the place.  
_

Lastly Amy put on a bit of makeup, just a touch of mascara, eyeliner, and powder, and then exited her room, ready to face the world.

"Wow Amy you look gorgeous," Cream gushed as her best friend entered.

"Chao chao," Cheese agred, the chao fluttering all around the beautiful Amy.

"Thanks Cream," she said, blushing a little, then turned to Vanilla. "Thank you for helping us, Miss Vanilla."

"You're welcome, dear. I hope you all have fun."

"We will."

The hedgehog and the two rabbits then finished up the very last of the preparations, waiting for the first guests to arrive.

...xxx...

**This was originally three chapters, but I decided to combine them all into one big, long one just about the preparations for the party. **

**Part one is Amy with the Chaotix...yes, apparently they somehow didn't hear that Sonic and Amy are together now, and Vector thought she was talking about herself, when really, she was talking about Knuckles and Rouge. That was supposed to be a funny scene, and I think you all can imagine what's going to happen at the party. I love how quirky the Chaotix are...  
**

**Part two is Sonic and Knuckles having a man to man talk about love and junk. Honestly, I don't know much about guys and how they think or talk about love, but I figured it'd be something like this. I do feel that they're both slightly OOC, but I don't think I butchered them too badly.  
**

**Part three is Amy with Vanilla and Cream, and then Sonic comes along to help. Just a much needed dose of fluff, I know. **

**Whoosh, a long chapter...AH! This story is actually almost done now. I probably only have 3 more chapters left in me...we'll see. :3  
**


	9. A Chaotic Party

**Novus Umbra, 01sonamy01, CherrletheChicken, Jacklethekitsune, GalexiatheChao, Mana the Cat Magician, poka, IHeartSonAmy, ultimateCCC, ItsStephanyx3, zeldaskeeper, Crails123, The Writer's Freedom Project: Thanks a bunch, guys. Yeah, the Chaotix aren't too bright, are they? -_- But hey, they're funny!  
**

**N****ow... here's ****where I'm going to start adding more stuff to this story. If you recall the original, like only two things happened at the party, so I'm going ****make it more interesting. ^_^ Very interesting... Yeah, so don't kill me for taking some leeway, hmm? ****Humor and fluff on the way in another super chapter!  
**

**...xxx...  
**

Chapter 9: A Chaotic Party

...xxx...

Whether it was from anxiety or nervousness that Amy couldn't stop her leg from bouncing up and down, the girl didn't know. It was probably the combination of knowing that the Chaotix might mess this up, along with nervousness to see if Tails would feel better, eagerness to see how Sonic would react to her, and anticipation of how fun the party was going to be. But either way, she was feeling a bit jittery.

"Well, I guess I'll be off now, girls," Vanilla told Amy and Cream as she gathered up her purse, tossing the bag over her shoulder.

"Are you sure you want to leave?" Amy asked, pouting just a little from her spot on the loveseat.

Vanilla smiled. "Yes, dear. I'm sure you'll all have fun without me." She turned to her daughter. "Have fun, Cream! Remember what I told you to tell Tails. And make sure you get home before 9, okay honey?"

"Okay, momma," Cream agreed.

The older rabbit nodded, then made her way to the large mahogany door. After she twisted the handle and swung open the door to leave, though, she was surprised to find her exit completely blocked by the three infamous detectives. The Chaotix, who had previously been crowding Amy's porch and arguing about who was going to ring the doorbell, all gaped at Vanilla for a moment.

"Oh," was the only word out of the rabbit's mouth upon seeing them.

"Miss Vanilla," Vector breathed, fighting his blush and trying to contain his excitement. "I didn't know that you were coming to this party!"

"Why Detective Vector, I didn't know you would be here either," Vanilla said, and couldn't help but smile and blush a bit herself.

"Are you going to stay for the party, Miss?" Vector asked quickly, hoping beyond hope she wasn't on her way out.

"Well, I..." Vanilla glanced back inside at Amy and Cream. "I was planning on it, but I suppose I should stay." She lifted her head a little. "After all, this party needs a chaperone." And just like that, the rabbit changed her mind and turned on her heels to re enter.

Vector chuckled and stepped inside, followed by Espio, who was rolling his eyes, and a gagging Charmy. But even though the bee was a little disgusted with all the love talk, it didn't hurt his appetite any. As he sat down, his yellow eyes grew in size to a puppy dog look as he gaped at the hostess.

"So where's the food?"

Espio shot him a dirty look, but Vector was too smitten with Vanilla to even notice anything else that was going on.

_"What?_" Charmy said and shrugged.

Amy smiled and turned to her friend. "Cream, can you get them the cookies?" she asked with a wink, signaling and reminding Cream of something.

Cream nodded and jumped up to head for the kitchen to fetch the snacks.

Once she was out of earshot, Amy leaned forward and looked at Espio. The chameleon took the hint and did likewise.

Lowering her voice, Amy whispered, "Look, you know that _mission_ I told you about? Forget it."

"Oh, thank goodness," Espio said. "I was thinking it was too early for that anyway."

_"What?_" Charmy, who had overheard, shouted. "So you don't like Sonic anymore?"

Amy blushed that he'd overheard her, but had to tilt her head in confusion.

"Of... course I do," she said slowly. "I'm his _girlfriend_. But I don't see what that has to do with - "

Her sentence was interrupted by another guest arriving, and Amy immediately hopped up to get the door. Could it be Sonic and Tails, so early? She did a quick glance down at her outfit just in case, and then opened the door.

It was like she'd walked straight off the red carpet. A velvety, dark plum dress was draped over the bat's curvy body, reaching all the way down to her knees but still having a low cut top. Instead of blue eyeshadow, Rouge had gone to a violet, to match her dress better. The dress also brought the shaded purple hues out of her wings, which poked out of her back and curved around in front of her.

Jealousy immediately hit Amy at just how stunning Rouge looked. She had a feeling all the guys behind her were probably ogling Rouge as well. She'd have to keep an eye on Sonic to make sure _his_ eyes didn't wander...

"Come in, Rouge," Amy offered anyway and turned around to let the bat in. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks hun," she smirked and sauntered in, taking in the atmosphere and seeing who was here now. So...Knuckles wasn't here yet. She wasn't a bit surprised, just a tad disappointed. The only reason she'd agreed to show up was because Sonic told her that Knuckles might come. As she walked across the room, though, she felt no eyes on her, which was very unusual. Ah well... she'd just sit here and wait.

At that moment, Cream came in with a large tray of cookies, and Charmy basically had to be held back so he didn't attack the little rabbit and steal the cookies. Cream set the tray down on the coffee table in the middle of the room so everyone could get one if they wanted.

"Charmy, you should really try meditating," Espio told the hyperactive insect. "It will help channel some of that energy."

Charmy stuffed a cookie in his mouth and made a face at the purple reptile. "How will sittuh aroun doin nuthin make meh cal down?" he said, spitting cookie crumbs, his cheeks stuffed like a chipmunk.

"Never mind..." Espio drifted off and turned his attention back to Amy.

The pink hedgehog looked a little distressed, he could obviously see that. Feeling his gaze, the girl turned to him and merely smiled, but shook her head subtly, letting the reptile know that they should still disregard her mission. Hmph. Had she wised up? Or was there something else missing here?

Meanwhile, Cream was a bit shocked at her mother. She'd never seen the older rabbit look so flustered before, not while sitting next to Mr. Vector. The little girl sighed and looked to Cheese, but the chao was busy pigging out on a cookie, before Charmy ate all of them.

The chime of the door bell indicated the next guest had arrived, and Amy sprang up to answer it, hoping that it was Sonic this time. A grin overcame her face as she pictured how Sonic's face would light up when he saw her dressed so wonderfully. She couldn't resist a light giggle, but upon opening the door, her face fell a bit.

Once again, Amy was greeted with purple, but this time it was a lighter, more bluish shade than Rouge's dress, and in the form of two wide eyes. Still, Amy couldn't help but think that Rouge choose purple to match the echidna's eyes.

The ruby guardian blinked back at her and nodded. "Amy."

"Knuckles." She smirked at him and backed away, but still faced him so she could catch his reaction to Rouge.

Knuckles entered her house, wiping imaginary mud from his sneaks before glancing around the living room. Cream playing with Cheese, Charmy stuffing his face, observant Espio, Vector flirting with Vanilla, and ...

Wow.

She looked... wow.

"Hey there Knuckie," Rouge said to him and patted the seat next to her invitingly as a smirk crawled up her way too beautiful face.

The guardian could just dumbly stand in the middle of the room, like a stunned deer in the headlights. His jaw was almost to his chest, but he had to snap it shut so he didn't start drooling. Somehow, he got his legs to work, despite how very weak his knees felt at that point, and settled down next to Rouge.

Meanwhile, Amy was busy watching the door, waiting. Everyone but the two most important guests, in Amy's eyes anyway, had arrived.

_Once Sonic and Tails get here everything will be perfect_.

"Alright," Amy announced to everyone as she sat down from opening the door.. "Sonic and Tails will be here any minute, hopefully. As you all know, Tails has been taking Cosmo's… passing pretty hard so I thought a night of food and friends and fun might help!" She looked around and saw that almost no one was listening. Ah well, at least they were all busy. She had to smile at Knuckles and Rouge on her couch.

"Good idea, Amy," Cream said, beaming.

The pink girl turned back to her best friend. "Thanks. So, the words 'Cosmo' or 'plant', are off limits, okay?"

"Got it!" Cream agreed.

A sudden commotion from the snack table startled everyone's attention.

"Charmy!" Vector snapped. "Did you really have to eat _every single one?_"

"I didn't!" the insect whined. "I only had 4!"

"Yes, and all the rest got up and walked away," Espio said coolly.

Amy narrowed her eyes at the empty tray. "Hey! Those were supposed to be for Tails!"

The Chaotix all gulped at seeing Amy's temper flare, but Cream butted in, "Don't worry, I saved him some."

Amy let out a sigh of relief. "Great."

The doorbell rang once again.

Amy freaked out in excitement, knowing there was only two people it could be. "They're here! Oh my gosh, I look ok, right?" her green eyes frantically ran up and down the length of her dress.

All the guys in the room rolled their eyes at Amy's insecurity.

"You look fine, dear," Vanilla assured the girl, once again.

"Sonic's not going to know what to do with himself," Rouge said with a wink.

"Not once I get through with him!" Vector almost shouted.

Luckily, Amy was too distracted to hear or acknowledge what the loud croc said, and instead just breathed. "Alright."

Her pink heels clicked across the floor before stopping at her door, ready to behold her boyfriend and the guest of honor.

Opening the door revealed the orange and cobalt figures in question, waiting impatiently to join in on the fun. While the former was smiling sheepishly, the latter's jaw was almost on the ground at seeing his breathtaking girlfriend. The fastest thing alive was utterly paralyzed. By nothing other than a girl.

The pink hedgehog giggled and had to literally take Sonic's hand to pull him inside. Still, his green eyes never left her face, in awe just like before.

It was Tails who spoke. "I was promised double chocolate chip mint cookies," the fox said with closed eyes as he walked in, brushing past the hedgehog couple.

"You know, Tails…" Vector said, diverting his eyes, "I think we ate all of them."

Tails' eyes snapped open, wide in horror. Well, so much for that, then... Silence from everyone was the only response, until a burst of laughter filled the living room.

"Just kidding!" Vector said.

Cream sprang from her seat to rush into the kitchen, selecting the last three cookies that she'd saved especially for the fox. "We saved some for you," she said a little shyly, and sat down. "Come sit by me, Tails."

A blush overcame his face. "Aww, thanks you guys…" Tails made his way over to the rabbit, smiling bashfully at her and taking the cookies.

"You know Tails, you're like a brother to us," Knuckles said.

"Yeah, you're a pretty cool kid," Rouge said with a wink.

"We're always here for ya, buddy," Vector assured.

Surveying the room, and all his friends' smiling faces, Tails then realized just how much he loved all of them. There really wasn't anything they wouldn't do for him, to make him feel better, was there? He smiled for the first time all day, maybe all week. He was about to turn and thank Cream again and dig into the snacks, but Espio interrupted him.

"Oh, Tails... we recently found a computer drive, and may require your help in hacking into it. It has some heavy security features installed."

"A drive?" Tails's eyes got huge in excitement. "Where'd you find it?"

"In the woods near Eggman's base," Charmy said, now that he had nothing more to eat.

Tails' face lit up. "Oh, that's _my_ drive! I thought it was gone for good!"

"And the Chaotix detective agency comes through again!" Vector said, pumping the air with his fist. "After the party you can come pick it up."

Tails beamed, relieved. Things were definitely looking up.

...xxx...

"Hey," Knuckles said to Rouge once everyone else was distracted, fully aware that he was blushing up a storm.

_Seriously Knuckles... you are acting too weak. She's just... just a girl... just... a drop dead gorgeous girl..._

A pleasant shock ran up his arm as Rouge placed her hand on top of his, her fingers weaving in and around his claws. He was quite sure he was about to faint.

"I'm glad you showed up," she said in her deep, husky voice. "You know you're the only reason I came, right?" A grin that looked a little too innocent for the wearer spread over her face.

"Hm... same here," he breathed, inhaling her perfume and scrunching his nose a bit.

For a moment the two just stared at each other, both somehow wishing that they were alone now, and not in Amy's crowded living room. Knuckles took in the beauty of her deep aquamarine eyes, his heart pounding, wondering if he should be here, and not at his guard post at the moment. And yet... there really was nowhere else he'd rather be than here, with her.

Rouge crossed her legs the other way, shifting herself slightly. For some reason, she was getting a bit uncomfortable in this dress, even though it was one of her favorites. She could tell Knuckles looked a little uncomfortable being this close to her, and part of her didn't relish that power this time. After lighting tugging at the shoulders of her dress to hike it up some, Rouge leaned forward a little so she could speak to Knuckles without anyone else hearing.

What she did_ not_ expect, however, was the echidna himself to lean forward and kiss her.

Blushing like it was her first ever kiss, Rouge immediately brought her hand up to her face and blinked at him. The kiss hadn't been delicate at all; his lips had been rough, raw, and somewhat inexperienced. But still, it hadn't felt bad in the least.

"So... you weren't just after my Emerald after all," he said, a light smirk forming over his own muzzle, which was still flushed scarlet, and not too far from Rouge's face. He extended one of his arms to curve around her shoulders.

Her confidence coming back, Rouge veiled her eyes. "You really are a knucklehead, aren't you?"

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" He snorted in anger, and the bat laughed on the inside. His temper was so hilarious to her.

"It means..." she opened her eyes. "That you don't know how to read people. You don't know them, or what they want."

Knuckles raised an eyebrow, surprised at her gentle, non sarcatic tone. "And I suppose you _can_?"

"Usually," she said, placing her other hand on his chest, causing his heart inside that cavity to pound even faster. "Right now, I can tell that you may be deeply in love with me." When he just blinked, she continued, "And... I certainly feel the same way. And don't think it's because of the Emerald, hun." Her finger traced his crescent shaped birthmark.

"What does that mean?" he asked rather dumbly.

Rouge lifted her eyes from his chest to his face. "Knuckie...have you ever been in a relationship?" It was almost a rhetorical, obligatory question, for both of them knew the answer to that one.

"No."

Her pink lips parted again to continue, but her voice was inexplicably silenced. _Rouge, just ask him! He's not going to say no, you idiot! Just look at him: he's head over heels!  
_

_And so am I. _

_And that's why...I can't.  
_

Noise finally escaped her, but it was just a sigh and not words as she lost her will to say more.

_It's just... been so long since I've had a guy, all to myself. And the last few... too much was wrong there. _

_I can't do this. He'll end up hurting me. Just like every other one. He won't commit to anything but that stupid rock, certainly not me. He doesn't want me.  
_

_Rouge... didn't you say he was unlike everyone else? He doesn't know anything about girls! He isn't trying to trick you out of anything! C'mon... he obviously does love you!  
_

Confused and in a strange internal struggle, Rouge turned from his intense gaze for a moment, missing out on the hurt reflected in his eyes_. Why was this so hard? _

"Rouge..." he breathed her name in such a tender voice that she had to turn to make sure it was still _Knuckles _sitting right next to her.

His deep indigo orbs strengthened her in a way she couldn't even imagine. All she saw in his eyes was just pure, unbridled honesty, curiosity, strength, and... something else, something stronger, that she just couldn't put her finger on...

"Rouge..." Knuckles repeated her name, as feelings he'd never experienced before danced in his heart. They were different, yet pleasant; strong, yet tender; gripping, yet freeing; scary, yet exciting.

What was it about her that made him feel like this? It was more than just her velvet dress and makeup... it was something in her eyes. Something mysterious, that he wanted to explore. Deep inside her, Knuckles could sense something valuable, something that needed_ protecting_, almost. She was vulnerable. Who would have thought that she could be even the least bit insecure? She sure hid it well, under her mask...

_But can you really afford to get involved with her? Wake up, she's Rouge the Bat!_

_But she's more than just a flirty batgirl thief._

"Rouge..." Third time was a charm. "Would you be my girlfriend?" he asked almost awkwardly.

Her eyes lit up, soaring along with her heart. He'd actually asked her. He. Knuckles. Asked her. He'd layed down his pride... for her.

"Why sure, darlin'," she drawled and wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his shoulder. "I thought you'd never ask."

...xxx...

Meanwhile… Sonic couldn't take his eyes off Amy. Everything about her was just so breathtaking: her dark green emerald eyes, framed by long eyelashes, that danced when she looked at him; her lovely pink quills that fell just above her delicate shoulders, draped in two puffy pink sleeves; her soft hands that were gently clasping his, stroking his knuckles; her smooth, pink lips gently curved up into a smile; and her light, girlish figure clad in that gorgeous party dress, with colors that matched Amy's fur and quills perfectly.

It was true: Amy really was prettier every time he saw her. Why had he waited so long, again? Why?

But now Sonic found himself with a bigger question: how could he tell her that she looked absolutely stunning? He didn't have words right now that would do her justice. All the hedgehog could manage to do in her wake was smile and scratch his head nervously. Amy merely smiled back... how was it possible that a girl could manage to be not only this beautiful, but so very sweet and kind and helpful? He simply had to tell her.

Without thinking, as usual, Sonic tightened his grip on her hand and rushed her off into a back hallway, so he could get away from the others and have it be just them together. _I_ _sure hope nobody saw that._

Once they were alone, the two hedgehogs stared at each other for a moment, entranced.

Amy found herself blushing deeply, flattered by Sonic's attention to her. He didn't look too bad himself, and even though Sonic spent probably no time on his appearance, that just made it more cute, that he looked good without trying. Everything about him, from his unruly, spiky blue quills, his twin fuzzy ears, his heart melting jade green eyes, his adorable long black nose, his kissable lips, his tan arms that were much stronger than they looked, his soft, furry chest, down to his skinny and fast cerulean legs... everything about Sonic was just so perfect.

But it wasn't just his looks that captured Amy's heart (though they didn't hurt the cause at all)... it was Sonic's own heart, and how it beat for her, and how very kind and selfless he was at his core... that was what Amy loved about him.

"Amy..." Sonic breathed, a smile overcoming his face along with a warm blush. "I just wanted to tell you, you look amazing."

Amy blushed as well, and had to divert her eyes. "Thanks. You look cute, too." He blushed, but Amy continued. "Sonic, why is it that you like this dress so much?"

He merely grinned and brushed her bang quills out of her eyes. "Because... _you're_ wearing it."

His hands, which had been tenderly clasping hers, moved to link around her waist, pulling the girl oh so very close to him. Amy's heart was pounding in a quick, but not painful beat, but when her chest touched Sonic's, she felt his own heart match her quick rhythm. She moved her hands up to his shoulders and let them wrap around his neck, pulling Sonic into her lips.

Ah...her lips. Sonic leaned deeper into the soft flesh, caressing her lips with his own, and couldn't help but enjoy the tenderness, the magic of kissing her. Their lips fit like two soft puzzle pieces, changing shape and tension to match it's partner. Amy let him lead for the most part, let his lips be the dominant ones in their dance, but Amy followed his movements perfectly, returning his tender kisses. Nothing, really nothing, could be better than this amazing feeling. His arms were so strong, and his fingers sunk into her waist just a little, to let her know that Sonic wasn't letting her go anywhere.

The two kissed for awhile, both in complete bliss. Once it was absolutely necessary, Sonic pulled away a little, but couldn't resist rubbing his muzzle tenderly against her soft one. When he opened his eyes to study her face, his heart warmed at how happy she looked. It gave him his own joy.

Sonic pulled her even closer, whispering in her ear, "I love you, Amy."

The girl moaned in pleasure softly, then whispered, "I love you, too, Sonic."

Sonic just held her in his arms for little bit, enjoying the warmth he felt in his chest from being so near to her, and then started kissing her again.

And all was right with the world.

**...xxx... (As a quick A/N: EEEEEEEEEEEEK! Okay, sorry, on with the story!) ...xxx...**

Meanwhile...

"Tails?"

The sweet voice of the young rabbit stole his attention, even enough to make him forget the blissful cookie halfway in his mouth. He swallowed the bite, wincing as the unchewed mass painfully pulled at his throat all the way down.

"Yes Cream?" he asked once his mouth was empty.

Eyes that were a much deeper brown hue than his chocolate cookie gaped into Tails' baby blue ones.

_Oh great, she's going to ask me about Cosmo...and tell me I just need to move on. And things were starting to look up... and I was starting to forget..._

"Do you like the cookies?" Cream asked innocently, a small smile tugging at her mouth.

Tails blinked, surprised at the topic. "Uh...yeah," he said sheepishly. "Did you make them?"

"I helped Amy," she said sheepishly.

"Oh," Tails said and took another bite, letting the mixture of chocolate and mint ignite his senses. Yet... he still felt Cream's gentle gaze on him. Once again, he turned back to her, and was rewarded with just a small smile and her warm eyes.

Yes, there was pity in the chocolate orbs; that was to be expected. But Tails could also read genuine caring. And also, if he squinted, deep hurt. So the others were still hurting, too? Everyone had been telling him to just get over it, and Tails had assumed that no one else even cared, and had just forgotten... it felt good to know that he wasn't the only one who still cared, who was still affected.

"Cream...why did Amy decide to throw this party?" Tails asked her.

She tilted her head slightly. "Well, Tails, it was for you."

"Me?" he blinked.

Cream nodded. "Yes Tails. We... we don't want you to be sad. It makes us sad, too." Her lower lip curled a bit, but not enough to be a full blown pout.

Tails looked away, studying everyone. They all seemed to be in their own little word, separate from each other. He was about to say something else to Cream, about how they shouldn't worry about him and he was just fine, but suddenly felt a small hand on top of his.

"Tails... it was a bad thing, Cosmo dying, but... just think of the good that came from it," Cream said softly, recalling exactly what her mother had told her. "Tails, you were the one that helped save everyone. You did what Cosmo wanted. So please don't be sad, Tails." Her last word was almost squeaked out, betraying the tears residing behind her eyes and threatening to spill.

Swallowing a lump in his throat, the fox looked back to Cream, feeling her sadness. "I know Cream," he whispered. "But I... I just feel like it's all my fault."

"It's not," Cream said simply, and a soft smile took over her face. "You know what my Momma told me?" Tails shook his head, signaling her to continue. "That it was the Metarex's fault. They were the reason she died. But you, and Mr. Sonic, and Mr. Shadow... you were the ones that saved everyone, with Cosmo. You were the heroes. You did the right thing."

_You did the right thing. _There wasn't sweeter words to the foxes ears. "Do you think?"he asked, hinting at a smile.

"If you didn't fire that cannon, then no one would be alive right now, Tails. No one. Not Cosmo, not you, not me. There wasn't anything else you could've done." She paused, letting her words sink in. "You were very brave, Tails. Braver than anyone. You've helped your friends so many times... you shouldn't be blaming yourself for what happened."

She was right. There wasn't anything he could do now. Cosmo was gone, but not forgotten. And Tails... well, he had done the right thing, hadn't he? Tails nodded at her, and as he looked away to study Amy's pink wallpaper, he had to be thankful that someone had actually taken the time to listen to him, and not just said 'get over it' like everyone else did.

"Thanks Cream," Tails said, giving Cream's hand a friendly squeeze before releasing it ."You... you really understand," he said shyly and then started digging into the cookies again.

"You're welcome Tails," she said sweetly, "but you should really be thanking Amy for the cookies."

"Yeah, thanks Amy for making the cookies," Tails said loudly, hoping the pink hedgehog would hear. At hearing no, "you're welcome," he let his eyes drift around the room. What? Where was she? "Amy?"

Still nothing. "Hey, anyone see Amy?" he asked everyone.

Everyone else stopped their conversations to look around.

"Sonic's gone as well." Espio said with a yawn, as if he'd already noticed.

"Hmmmm…awful suspicious!" Vector said.

"Did those two sneak off while we weren't looking?" Knuckles asked with a raised brow.

"Wouldn't put it past them," Rouge said, rolling her eyes.

Cream giggled, and everyone looked at her. The rabbit lifted her small hand to try and hide her smile and shrugged. "I didn't see anything…" she giggled again.

"OH, let's go spy on them!" Charmy said, zipping around the room.

"Uh, I wouldn't recommend that," Rouge said.

Ignoring the bat, Vector suddenly stood straight up. "The Chaotix detective agency is on the case to find two missing hedgehogs!"

When everyone just stared at him, he continued, "What? We gotta make sure they're not, you know, hurt or something…" he said, a sly smile curving up his snout.

Charmy laughed and started flying deeper into the house, followed by his boss.

"Oh brother." Espio shook his head. "Well, I'm not going to get caught." The chameleon proceeded to turn invisible and followed, somewhat reluctantly, after his colleagues.

"Don't blame us if you get killed," Knuckles called out to them before turning back to Rouge.

The detectives sneaked through the house, trying to remain silent as they searched for the couple. They didn't have to search long, as Amy's house wasn't all that big, and Sonic hadn't pulled her that far. The couple was in each other's arms, making out.

Charmy couldn't help but laugh, and Espio tried to quiet him but it was too late. They'd heard.

The bee's giggle caused panic and embarrassment to run through Sonic at being caught in the act, and he immediately let go of Amy and rushed to the other side of the room, facing the wall with his bright red face. Amy, however, was not quite so shy.

"HOW DARE YOU!" Amy screamed, her eyes blazing green flames, one fist clenched and the other clutching a very large red and gold hammer.

The Chaotix immediately saw their mistake.

"AH!"

"Run for it!"

"Mad Amy!"

The detectives took off from Amy's wrath and ran back to the living room, diving behind a couch, passing by Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, and Cream, who were all covering their ears from Amy's scream of anger.

"Can't say we didn't warn you," Knuckles said to them.

Amy started to run after them but forgot she was wearing heels. Not exactly ideal running gear. She tripped and waited for the painful thud but suddenly stopped about an inch from the ground, being supported by two tan arms and gloved hands. Sonic had caught her.

"Try not to run in heels, okay?" Sonic said, winking.

Amy's anger faded immediately at being held by Sonic. "Thanks, Sonic."

Readjusting his grip, Sonic picked her up like she weighed less than a feather and set her back on her high-heeled clad feet, trying to stabilize her. He smiled at her, and could go for another kiss, but decided the others would start looking for them again. Still, he couldn't resist another peck on the cheek.

"Let's go back," Sonic said as he took Amy's hand and led her back to the living room.

"It's okay to come out now," Sonic announced once they were back.

Vector, Espio, and Charmy peeked warily over the top of the couch and upon seeing a pacified and happy Amy, they climbed over.

"So... what do we do now?" Charmy asked rather loudly.

Amy smirked at him. "Now... it's time for some games."

...xxx...

**Ah... long chapter! I got very long winded on some parts. Maybe this should have been two chapters, but I really had no idea how long this sucker would be until I was already almost through with it. Hopefully you all enjoyed the humor, the fluff, and Tails finally getting some happiness! :3  
**

**Main additions: Vanilla staying. (If you don't like Vectnilla, you'll get no apologies from me.) Knuckles and Rouge coming separately, and then having another talk. **

**I think I totally failed on the Tails and Cream talk. Honestly, that was a bit hard for me to write, trying to keep them both in character there, and since I really didn't know what to say. Death is a tough thing to swallow, at any age, and since I've been lucky enough to not really have anyone close to me die, I don't know how to handle that. And no, I'm not pairing them up, that comes in the sequel to this story: A Whole New World (and by the way, in that story, I made them magically grow up to 10 and 12, so I guess in this story they're that old too. Makes it a little easier for them to be talking so deeply if they're older).**

**This chapter was weird to write, because there was a bunch of stuff going on at once, and it was hard to portray that. But know the Knuckles/Rouge talk happened at the same time as the Tails/Cream one, and the SonAmy kiss thing a little after. Okay?**

**Okay... so this isn't the ending, obviously... stay tuned...**


	10. Love is Sacrifice

**GalexiatheChao, Mana the Cat Magician, 01sonamy01, Jacklethekitsune, ultimateCCC, poka, SherryBlossom, Alyssacookie, IHeartSonAmy: Another chapter, though this one is a little bit intense. Enjoy, guys and gals!  
**

...xxx...

Chapter 10: Love is Sacrifice

...xxx...

"Games?" Rouge asked, smirking. "What sort of games do you have in mind, Pinky? Spin the bottle?"

Immediate rejection in the form of shouts of "NO!" and "EW!" filled the living room. Rouge just shrugged; there wasn't anyone else in this room she wanted to kiss besides Knuckles, anyway.

A large crash suddenly broke the light, happy atmosphere of the party, shaking the house slightly and putting everyone on alert.

"What was that?" Sonic asked, his quills stiffening and pointing up slightly.

"It didn't sound good," Knuckles said, frowning.

"Oh Son-ic! You better come out here, I know you're in there!" An unmistakable voice traveled through the window along with the breeze.

A deep frown of annoyance etched its way over Sonic's handsome features. "Eggman," he sneered with contempt. "He never gives us a single break, does he..." The hedgehog softened his countenance to glance at his girl, letting a smile reassure her that he could handle this. Her green eyes were big in worry, but she still trusted him.

"Stay here, okay?" he said and brushed his lips lightly against hers.

The kiss was so gentle and so fast that Amy didn't even realize it until the hedgehog was already out the door, ready to face Eggman.

The sun had gone down long ago, making the buildings, trees, and landmarks surrounding Amy's home practically indiscernible without the sun to illuminate them. Still, there was no mistaking Eggman's hovercraft, traced out with lights, floating above the ground. _Oh, so he had a glow in the dark craft now? _

Eggman cackled at seeing his foil appear. "What? A party, Sonic? And you didn't invite me? How insulting..."

"What do you want Eggman?" Sonic spat, not interested in small talk right now.

"Why, how rude of me, I just came for a game of show and tell. How do you like my new toy, hm?" Eggman chuckled and pushed a few buttons to call out his minion.

In a gust of wind that rivaled Sonic's trademark, a robot arrived on the scene, coming to a halt right below Eggman's hovercraft. His cobalt steel body may have matched Sonic's in color, but his cold red eyes bore no resemblance to Sonic's light, shiny green pair. And unlike Sonic, there was no passionate heart beating inside of the robot.

For a moment the two, the flesh and the steel, the genuine and the faker, the paragon and the imposter, beheld each other in a deadening stare, sizing up their rival up. It was only the sound of three fellow fighters, Knuckles, Tails, and Espio, arriving behind Sonic that got him to snap out of his thoughts.

"I'm not impressed," he said simply, crossing his arms over his chest and closing his eyes smugly.

Eggman raised an eyebrow. "Hmph... well, Sonic, I really hope you've enjoyed your time off, because I've actually been busy the past few days... and I'm not finished yet. I still have plenty _more_ to show you!"

And then, without warning, out of the night, they came.

In one instant they were completely surrounded by a gigantic army of Metal Sonic robots, all organized in almost too neat rows, stretching as far as the eye could see in the swallowing blackness of the night. There had to be hundreds of them standing at attention, ready to do Eggman's bidding. Hundreds. Hundreds of robots just as fast as Sonic.

Sonic paled, feeling overwhelmed for one of the first times in his life. "No way..." he breathed, taking in the staggering numbers of them. "That's..."

"Impossible," Tails muttered, his blue eyes wide in fear.

Yet, here they all were. For once, Sonic and his team were facing a battle that they really couldn't hope to win. One Metal Sonic was bad, and hard enough to deal with. Why, last time they'd fought, Sonic had been beaten by his newest copycat. But an entire army of them? An entire army of robots just as fast as he was? That was almost... unfair.

Sonic gulped. How had things gone so wrong? Just a minute ago, he'd had Amy in his arms, and was kissing her, holding her...

"What're we gonna do, Sonic?" Tails asked him, his voice trembling.

"We fight," Knuckles said simply, undaunted.

Tails looked down in despair.

Sonic merely shook his head. As much as he loved his team, they were in over their heads. They had no hope of defeating hundreds of these of these robots. But still... what else could they do? Give up, surrender? Never. Ever. They'd have to try. At the very least.

"Very impressive, if I do say so myself," Eggman gloated.

The hedgehog remained silent, unusual for him in the face of battle. After another sweep of the overwhelming army's staggering numbers, his green eyes drifted behind him, back at what he'd have to protect. Through the transparent window, he could see everyone's frightened expressions, knowing that they were all willing him to do something, to save the day, just like he always did.

_You're a hero, Sonic. This... this is what you live for. You can do this, they're all depending on you..._

Yes, all of them: Vector, Charmy, Vanilla, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, and Amy. Even from this distance, Sonic could make out her lovely face, willing him to do his best, propelling him forward._ Alright... I'll do this... for you. _

A smirk carved its way up Sonic's face before blooming into a grin, trying to let his cockiness come through. "Nope Eggman, still not impressed," he said, as much to convince himself as raise the morale of Tails, Knuckles, and Espio. "If I can beat one faker, I can beat a hundred."

"Oh? We'll see about that!"

As if on cue, the Metal Sonics all moved at once, aimed directly at Sonic for an attack. Wasting no time, Sonic curled himself into his tightest spin dash and started plowing through the lines. However, he felt no contact with any of the robots, and had to pull up to see what had happened. He only saw that the whole army that had been on the side he'd gone to was already on the other side of the house.

What? How had they gotten there before he'd even noticed them moving? Was it possible that they were_ even faster than he was?_ If so... they were in more trouble than Sonic originally thought.

Steeling himself, Sonic revved himself up for another attack, but a cry of pain stole his concentration. His head whipped in the direction of the sound, where the others were holding their ground. While Knuckles was trying his hardest to punch some dents in the army and failing from a lack of quickness, and Espio was calmly guarding the door and tossing his shurikens, but Tails was where the cry had come from. It appeared a few of the Metal Sonics had ganged up on his little brother, bruising the little fox.

_Not on my watch. You'll pay for that one. _

Rushing over to the group, Sonic instantly caused them all to scatter. "Hey, pick on someone your own size!" he challenged.

If robots could sneer, they all did just then. However, none of them seemed willing to directly attack Sonic for whatever reason, and simply dodged his attacks. _So they're faster... and they won't fight? _Sonic thought in frustration, seeing none of his attacks come to fruitition. _Then what are they trying to do? Wear me down? It's working slowly... but still. I'll fight all night if I have to. _

So continued the strange fight. Sonic found himself picking off just a few of the robots, watching them crumple to the ground, but there were still dozens more taking its place. And he himself was taking some damage, though only by getting hit from behind. Apparently, the Metal Sonics were cowards, only striking him at his back, while he was busy fighting another group. Ugh... there were just too many... pain and fatigue were starting to pull at his muscles, too, as the battle wore on and on. He could see his fellow fighters holding their own well enough, though they were all sustaining pretty bad injuries. Sonic was just glad that he'd told Amy to stay behind...

An all too familiar scream pierced his ears, and Sonic cursed loudly. Crap... they must have broken into the house to take her. He'd jinxed it.

Turning to see where Amy was, his heart sank down to the ground upon seeing a Metal Sonic cradling her just like he would carry the girl, delivering her to Eggman. Why the nerve of that blasted robot!

"HELP! SONIC! Let go of me you creep!" The robot's grip was too tight for her to summon her hammer.

"A-" Sonic couldn't finish even her name, as yet another robot struck him from behind, knocking the wind out of him. His legs crumpled and he landed painfully on his stomach with an "oof." He tried to use his hands to get up, but his legs were burning and couldn't support him. All he could do was watch helplessly.

"_Amy-_" he said softly, raising a useless hand up in her direction.

"Oh ho ho ho!" Eggman's cruel laughter seemed very out of place. "Look what I managed to get! Isn't she so lovely, Sonic?"

Why that big, fat... Sonic gasped. No... no... he couldn't let Eggman take her. Oh jeez, anyone but Amy! Really, anyone! Even him!_ Get **me**, fight **me**, kill **me**, forget **her**! _his mind screamed, but he was still on his stomach, breathing rapidly, trying to recover so he could do something besides just stare with glazed eyes.

In his peripheral vision, Sonic could make out Tails, Knuckles, and Espio a distance away. They were all broken, bruised, and bleeding, just like he was. They couldn't do anything either. They were helpless against Eggman's large army.

"We'll, I'll be off, then, boys. I've gotten just what I wanted. Ta ta for now!" Eggman said, and started reigning in his army. "Hope you enjoy your party!"

"WAIT!"

The cry of the desperate blue hedgehog silenced everything, save for the nighttime chirping of the crickets. "Eggman, you can't..." every word was a struggle, for Sonic hated to appear weak, hated to appear like he couldn't just take on the world. But there was something inside of him... that just wouldn't LET Amy slip from his grasp, from his protection._ Oh, **anyone** but **her**... even **me**... _Part of him shuddered at the thought of Amy being in the clutches of that... that... monster.

"Don't..." Sonic gasped in pain, but brought himself painfully to his feet, his normally strong legs wobbling greatly and stained purple as the blue fur mixed with red blood.

"Don't take _her_!" he yelled desperately, his eyes locked with the subject matter, hoping he didn't look as scared as she did right then.

Eggman cackled, relishing his victory, and enjoying how weak and desperate his greatest enemy looked. He really had won this time. "Oh ho ho! Or you'll do what, exactly, Sonic? You really do care for her, don't you? I'll just take the girl and leave the rest of you alone. A fair-"

"NO!" Sonic hissed. "Don't take her, take **_me_** instead!"

Silence. Even the crickets had stopped at this surrendering turn of events.

"Take me, Eggman," Sonic affirmed, steeling his expression, his green eyes flashing determination as he lessened the distance between himself and the very evil doctor. "You heard me. Take me, and put Amy back. Leave her alone."

"Sonic..." Knuckles was too shocked to say more.

"You can't!" Tails protested, but was met with Sonic's firm gaze saying, 'I must. There's no other way.'

Espio remained silent.

Eggman's jaw dropped, but then twisted into a sinister smirk. "Take _you_? Ho ho ho! How very generous of you, Sonic!" The doctor was practically drooling at the offer, eager to finally capture his elusive enemy. "It's a deal!"

"NO, Sonic!" Amy screamed, flailing against Metal Sonic's grip, her heart heavy at what he was doing. "You can't!"

"Amy..." Sonic locked eyes with her, trying to strengthen the girl. 'Trust me' his green eyes seemed to read. 'I know what I'm doing... I'm going to be okay. I'll come back.'

Limping with every step, Sonic made his way up to Eggman and the Metal Sonic that was holding Amy, spreading his arms in a sign of surrender and sacrifice.

The Metal Sonic that was holding her zoomed Amy back to her house and dropped the girl roughly on the ground. Amy could just gape, surprised, touched, and saddened by what Sonic was doing for her, and for everyone. "Sonic..." Tears dripped down her face, creating a bitter, salty taste on her lips. "Sonic..."

One last time, to imprint her image on his memory, Sonic turned to his beloved. "I love you, Amy!"

It was the last thing Sonic said before a Metal Sonic knocked him out and carried his unconscious body away.

"Enjoy your evening, gang!" Eggman said way too giddily, and then disappeared into the night, followed by his new, overwhelming army.

...xxx..

**O - kay, so...**

**This is not a threat, it's a promise: if any of you (and I do mean any of you) remember the old ending and spoil it for the ignorant, I will... I will... learn how to use the block user function. *smiles sweetly***

**I think we can all agree that I wrote this chapter more realistically. In my original they didn't fight at all, and I took some heat for that, so I decided to write the battle scene out as best as I could. And yes, love is sacrifice, and when you care more about the other person than yourself, so that you care more about their well being than your own. That is love. :)**

**So yeah... hope you enjoyed the intensity. Next chapter up soon enough, but I'm going to be changing a few things from my original. I'm still keeping the main parts, though. You shall see...**


	11. A Simple Misunderstanding

**IHeartSonAmy, ultimateCCC, Jacklethekitsune, poka, Alyssacookie, ItsStephanyx3, JazztheHedgehogSingingStar, SonamyRules159, Mana the Cat Magician, The Writer's Freedom Project: EEK! Thanks for not revealing anything... but you guys know that I was just kidding about blocking people, right? :D Oh well. You'll find out soon enough what the deal is...**

...xxx...

Chapter 11: A Simple Misunderstanding

...xxx...

A single, tearful wail of despair broke the still night air, coming from none other than Amy herself. The pink hedgehog curled herself into a ball, sobbing uncontrollably and muttering, "Sonic... why... _no_... it's all my fault..." More and more sobs emerged from her throat, as her mind kept conjuring up everything that Eggman could possibly be doing to Sonic at this moment.

Sonic was truly gone.

A fresh wave of pain gripped her heart, sinking in it's fingers. Oh... this was all her fault... if only she hadn't been such an easy target, if only she could have avoided that Metal Sonic...

"Amy..." Cream's small, gentle, soothing voice reached her ears as a small hand ran down Amy's back.

"NO! I don't - Sonic's _gone_!" she wailed, practically delirious as she flailed away from her best friend.

"Amy, please... don't cry, we'll get him back..."

Still, Amy wasn't willing to listen to anyone. "It's all my fault... Eggman's going to kill him!" She broke down into another wave of sobs, her body convulsing with sorrow.

Cream turned from Amy's pitiful sight to everyone else. Vector had one arm around her mother, who had her face in her hands. Rouge was looking down at the ground, drawing squiggles in the dirt with her heel, wearing a forlorn expression. Charmy was actually quiet, while Espio looked deep in thought, as did Tails. Knuckles was crossing his arms and shaking his head.

"What an idiot." A much less sympathetic voice muttered. "He just has to go over the top, show off and prove he's the hero, doesn't he? What a punk. Now we have to go save his butt again, what a -"

The echidna's voice was cut off by a very large hammer making a dent in his skull.

"OW!" he yelled, glaring at his assailant. If it was anyone but Amy, they'd be dead at this point. Knuckles was already bruised and bleeding...

"I can't believe you!" a delirious Amy screamed right in his face. She was all tears and rage. "Sonic just gave his life for all of us and all you do is complain!"

Knuckles scowled at her, backing up just a little, but not wanting to fight back. "You always stick up for him! You're so blind it's not-" he had to dodge another hammer swing.

"Amy, please stop!" Cream begged her, tears forming in her own eyes. She hated to see her friends fight each other.

"NO!" Amy kept swinging at the echidna, needing to get her anger and heavy emotions out.

"Don't take this out on me!" Knuckles protested.

Suddenly Vector came up behind Amy and somehow managed to avoid her hammer in order to pick her up off the ground. "That's quite enough of that, missy."

Amy screamed again, flailing against the large crocodile's hold. "Put me down _this instant_!"

"Pinky, please," Rouge said, tilting her head. "You're acting like a little kid."

"I don't care! They took my Sonic away! They took my..." Amy broke down into another realm of sobs, her emotions drained at this point.

Realizing it was safe now, Vector set Amy down gently, patting her back a few times. The crocodile then surveyed everyone's sullen expressions.

"What do we do now?" Charmy finally asked the obvious question.

Tails broke out of his thoughts to stand up straighter. "We're gonna save Sonic." Everyone looked at him.

"You have a plan?" Espio asked.

"I have an _idea_," Tails said, clenching his jaw in determination. "Espio, you said you had my drive, right?"

The purple reptile nodded.

"Let's go get it. I have all the info about Metal Sonic on there. I may be able to find a weakness and we can formulate a plan."

"Good thinking," Espio acknowledged.

The two brainiacs started to head off to the detective agency to do just that, but Knuckles shot them both a scowl.

"You expect us to just _stand around u_ntil you get back?" he growled.

"Yes," Tails said, turning around just slightly to meet eyes with the echidna. "This battle will be won with the mind, not the fist."

Without another word, Tails and Espio hurried away, knowing they had no time to lose.

Knuckles huffed, but took just a second to look down at himself. Nothing too bad; a deep cut sliced it way up his left arm, oozing blood and making his fur deeper red. The rest of his body just had bruises, maybe a sprain or something. What a weird fight that had been. He had assumed that fighting the robots would be just like fighting Sonic, but they'd been even more elusive than their model. Hmph. Knuckles hadn't even managed to touch or damage one of them... and yet they didn't fight back. How very strange... He let out a groan of pain, but had to pause as he felt a delicate hand on his shoulder.

"Knuckie..." was all she said, but her teal eyes reflected hurt as she inspected his injuries. "Oh... let's get you inside and cleaned up." Rouge started pulling on his good arm, but Knuckles remained planted. No way was he going to appear weak, especially not in front of Rouge...

Seeing his hesitancy, Rouge frowned at him. "Oh, don't go all macho on me, big guy. You're hurt, now c'mon. I'll... I'll help." Her eyes were fierce, but still reflected... what was that? Compassion? From Rouge?

The guardian just stared for a minute, his indigo eyes big and his heart warmed slightly. She actually cared about him? No one had ever... taken the time to really deal with his injuries before... they had all just assumed he could handle them, and that was just the way Knuckles liked it. He liked to be the tough guy... the unbreakable, unshakable rock...and yet, maybe Rouge tending to his wounds wouldn't be so bad. Hmph.

"Alright," he gave in, but didn't let her help him walk back into Amy's house.

Watching the bat and echidna walk back in, Vanilla said, "Oh, why don't we all go back inside and try to calm down?"

"That's a good idea," Vector said, and led Vanilla and the gang back inside.

"Amy?" Cream asked the forlorn girl, who was now just silently kneeling and crying into her hands.

Her pink head lifted up from her hands, revealing two dark green orbs that were swimming in tears. Her teeth were gently biting into her lower lip, trying to steady her emotions, trying to forget...

"I'm... I'm coming," she said, slowly using her hands to bring herself to her feet. When her heels didn't quite support her weight, Amy slipped... but Sonic wasn't there to catch her this time, and Amy tumbled back to the ground. She let out another broken up sob, but was soon enough on her feet with some small help from Cream.

The walk up her path was spent in silent reflection, as Amy was too heartbroken to say much, and Cream really didn't know what to say. Once they'd gotten back inside, Amy made a bee line for her room, not even bothering to acknowledge her friends hanging out in despair.

"Amy-" Cream protested, not sure if she wanted her best friend to just brood alone in there.

"I just wanna be alone," Amy said in a quiet monotone and slammed the door behind her.

Not able to do anything else, the pink hedgehog collapsed on her bed, tears streaming from her eyes like a waterfall as she clutched her pillow to her chest, hoping it'd comfort her.

Sonic was _gone._

What he'd done was so heroic it was unbelievable. Amy had been scared out of her mind when she saw hundreds Metal Sonics appear out of nowhere. All of them had been. But Sonic, _her_ Sonic, had stepped forward, not back, and challenged them anyway. Why, he'd fight to the death, wouldn't he? He'd challenge impossible odds. He'd do anything to protect his friends.

When the Metal Sonic had broken into her house, Amy hadn't known how to react - she'd just screamed, and tried to run, but just like in her dream... she had no hope of escaping that monster. It had roughly scooped her up and carried her off to Eggman, and Amy's only hope was that Sonic would save her. And he had. In a sacrifice that Amy had never ever thought that he'd do.

And now he was gone.

He was _so **brave**_, so amazing...

And Sonic had done it for her. Yes, he'd done it for all of them, in a way, but Amy knew that ultimately, he'd done it for her. To think that he'd rather take whatever Eggman would do to him, rather than her being taken from him... It was so unbelievable. Amy didn't have words to express how extremely grateful she was to that hedgehog. Sonic. As good and valuable and strong as he was, he was willing to give it up. For her. What an amazing love... but would it mean anything? Part of Amy wished that he hadn't given himself up. Part of her wished that _she_ was the one in Eggman's clutches, taking the pain, instead of him. At least then she'd know her hero would be a long soon enough to save her. But what could she do know that the hero was the one in trouble?

Groaning, Amy pulled herself off her bed, kicking off her annoying heels after she almost slipped once again. Wiping at her eyes, Amy walked across her cold floor barefoot, reaching her window to look at the crescent moon looming in the night sky.

What could she do now? Just sit and wait for Tails to figure something out? That could take days. Days... and Sonic really could be in serious trouble... who knows what Eggman could be doing to him? Why... what if Eggman_ killed_ him? Or... brainwashed him somehow? Or was _torturing _him?

_Sonic needs me. Now. He... would never wait to come save me.  
_

Amy decided right then that she would have to go after him.

_You're crazy, girl. You think you can take on all those Metal Sonics?  
_

She steeled her expression. _It doesn't matter.__ If I get captured, I'll be with him. We'll be together again. I... can't just leave him there. I have to go after him.  
_

On that thought, Amy ripped off her party dress, donning her normal red dress and boots. Now dressed more actively and ready to fight, Amy glanced at the doorway leading back to the living room, where the rest of the team was.

_They'll just try and stop me_. _They'll say I'm being stupid... but they don't understand. Sonic needs me. But how can I get past them? _

She bit her lip in thought, then glanced back at the window.

Ah.

Without another thought, Amy forced the window open, hoping the noise wasn't loud enough to be overheard. One quick leap out of it, and Amy suddenly found herself alone in the cold, dark night.

Not willing to waste any more time, she took off in the direction of Eggman's base. The journey wouldt ake her through the forest, and since it was dark, Amy tripped on some roots and various other debris that were littering the forest floor. But still, the determined, love crazed girl kept running.

"I'm coming, Sonic," she whispered, hoping that somehow, the wind would carry the promise to the hedgehog, wherever he was.

...xxx...

"Heh heh heh."

Evil laughter filled the otherwise quiet noise of the underground, heavily guarded prison, which held nothing other than an unconscious blue hedgehog. But that prize, that trophy... that was more than enough to make Eggman chuckle.

"Ho ho ho ho ho."

Finally. Finally, after years and years of battling the elusive, erratic, daredevil hedgehog, Eggman had finally succeeded in capturing him. And to think... all it took was a simple kidnapping mission of his annoying little girlfriend, and Sonic had given himself up. It had almost been too easy.

"Ha ha ha ha ha."

Oh yes, Sonic was finally under his power. Now, the only question was deciding what to do with him. The options were making Eggman's head spin. Really, they were limitless. Everything from brainwashing, torturing, killing, using as ransom, getting him to trick his friends... goodness, he could really have some fun with this.

"You really outdid yourself this time, doctor," Bokkun's small, bewildered voice told him.

"I know. This was my plan all along! Don't you now see how much of genius I am?" Eggman lied. In truth, he hadn't expected to score this big of a prize, but would never admit that. Once again, his eyes looked greedily over the hedgehog. Sonic truly was defeated and completely at his mercy.

"Are you gonna…_ kill_ him?" the little robot asked.

"Oh _no_," Eggman brushed off. "Sonic is _much_ too valuable to simply knock off like that."

"Then what_ are_ you going to do?" Decoe asked.

Eggman mused. If he could somehow get Sonic on his side… "I have a plan, a plan that would make this hedgehog an asset instead of an annoyance." A smirk curved up his mouth, behind his huge mustache.

"Aren't you afraid the others will attack?" Bocoe asked.

Eggman shook his head. "They won't. Not as long as they think I have hundreds of Metal Sonics roaming around. You see the brilliance of my plan?"

"They'll find out eventually…" Bokkun trailed off.

"Yes, but by then it'll be too late for their hero… but until then, my little friend, it's truly time to celebrate the first great victory of the Eggman Empire!"

...xxx...

So.

Eggman had finally figured out the way to beat Sonic: Neutralize his greatest strength(speed), play off his weakness(Amy), and overwhelm him with numbers. It truly was a brilliant plan, Tails had to admit. Now he would just have to come up with a way to counter it.

But still... something about all those Metal Sonics... had seemed strange to the fox. There just had been something off about them, something he couldn't put his finger on. Glancing back down at his drive, Tails hoped that it would have the answers that he seeked.

"It's a miracle you guys managed to find this," Tails told Espio once they'd finally arrived at his workshop and started booting up his powerful computer.

"We always seem to stumble on things by mistake," Espio said with a shrug.

Tails nodded, but couldn't even smile slightly at that, turning his attention to the task at hand. He knew pure force wouldn't win this battle. It'd have to be won with intelligence. This is where he came in.

He plugged in his drive and let the data appear on his screen. "Let's see here…" the fox mused as he scanned the info about the Metal Sonics.

"You got something?" Espio asked.

Tails bit his lip in concentration. "Well... I was wondering how Eggman controlled all these Metal Sonics. Because it looked like they all just left at once, meaning they are all under his command somehow. If I could find a way to figure out how he's been controlling them, I might be able to hack into that frequency somehow, and get them all to be controlled by another device."

Espio tilted his head. "Is there anything about that in there?"

"No. That's the weird thing. Some of this... just doesn't make much sense." A deep frown set into his muzzle. "Hmm..."

"Strange. Any other ideas?"

"Well... I'm still thinking but..." Tails paused and scanned some more, his brow furrowing. "It... it's like, it only has information as if there's only one robot."

"Only one?" Espio echoed.

"Yeah... it's as if -" he stopped suddenly, his blue eyes flying open at the last sentence that he'd read. That... was impossible... "Wha -"

"Tails, what is it?" Espio asked, looking over his shoulder.

Tails just blinked and reread the section, trying to make sure it said exactly what it did. The repitition, the realization made his heart freeze and warm at the same time. "Espio, it... " a small smile tugged at his mouth. "They're not..." he opened his wrist comm. "I have to call the others."

...xxx...

Amy's lungs were burning as she finally came upon the familiar clearing that housed Eggman's base. Pausing at the treeline, Amy let her green eyes take in the moonbeams dancing through the canopy of leaves up above, creating an odd pattern on the dark forest floor. Her breaths came out quickly, matching the fast beat of her heart. Still, she knew she didn't have much time to waste. And there could be one of the Metal Sonic's lurking about.

Peeking around one of the trees, Amy noted that, sure enough, the perimeter of the base was lined with Metal Sonics acting like guard dogs. Crap. Amy figured her only chance would be to sneak past them somehow. But that didn't look too likely.

_Oh... what to do? _

Amy studied the robot closest to her. It wasn't moving, not even a little. Straining her eyes that had adjusted to the darkness, Amy could tell the Metal Sonic looked... weird. It was almost too clear in her vision.

_I'll try and sneak up on it and take it out from behind. _

It was the only thing she could think of to do. Amy pulled out her hammer and ran around the trees to get a good angle. She would have to move fast; those things could even take out Sonic.

Here goes nothing.

She launched herself from behind the tree and swung her hammer with all her might at the Metal Sonic. Amy braced herself for the powerful impact, prepared to see it crumble and make a break for the base.

But no contact came.

_What?_ Amy barely had time to wonder as the momentum of the swing spun her violently, and she ended up falling on the ground.

Panic raced through her, along with adrenaline. Had the robot jetted away just in time and was about to kill her?

Amy snapped her head up to frantically look around, but the robot was still in the exact same spot. And hadn't moved an inch. Confused, the pink hedgehog picked herself up, staring at the motionless Metal Sonic. Tentatively, Amy lessened the distance between herself and it. Even then, it didn't move. What in the world?

Wanting to take advantage of the still robot, Amy took another swing at it, but had to gasp.

Her hammer had gone _straight through_ the Metal Sonic!

All she could do was gape at the still, motionless, seemingly mass-less robot. Gaining courage, Amy extended her hand toward it, seeing if she could make contact. But no... her hand just went right through it, painting her whole arm blue with the image.

_A hologram._

Amy blinked. Eggman had tricked them all ... with a _hologram?_ Sonic was in there, maybe dying, because of a _hologram_? They had all gotten beaten... by _holograms?_

_Oh, he is **SO** gonna pay for this! _

Amy huffed, and raced toward the base, now completely unafraid, strangely relieved, and very eager to rescue Sonic from this imaginary army.

...xxx...

_Well, this evening sure didn't go like I expected_, Rouge thought. _I sure didn't think I'd be tending to Knuckles' wounds..._

She took another deep breath as she dabbed the peroxide into his deep cut, trying to clean it. The formula bubbled up and must have stung, with how far it cut into his skin, but the echidna didn't wince at all. He didn't show the least sign of pain on his features. Even his eyes were wide open, watching her...

"I didn't know you were a nurse," he quipped.

Rouge smirked. "I'm not. But I may have to become one if you keep gettin' yerself injured."

For some reason, Knuckles blushed at this. It was a strange thought... having someone take care of him like this.

"Don't tense up so much," Rouge suddenly commanded, using her free hand to settle him, placing it on his chest. "Just relax, sweetie."

"I'm tired of waiting around here," he grunted, but allowed himself to sit back slightly. Her fingers were oh so gently resting on his sore muscles... "We should be out there fighting."

"You tried that," Rouge said, and started to wrap a bandage around his arm. "And see where it got you? Sometimes, Knuckie, it takes more than just brawn to win a fight. Sometimes you need subtlety." She paused. "Still... something about this seems very fishy to me."

"Why's that?" Knuckles asked, turning to face her.

"Well...when we snuck in earlier, we only saw one Metal Sonic. You think that there would be a bunch of them lying around, you know?"

"You sayin' they're not real?" Knuckles asked with a raised eyebrow. "Look, my injuries are real enough."

"Yes, but… Eggman just took Sonic and left. It was almost like he was relieved and just wanted to get out of there. And well... it was almost like we could see them all too well, in the dark. It's just been bothering me is all," she concluded as she secured the bandage around his cut.

She was right. How had she noticed that? He grunted again, but still wished he could do something. Knuckles leaned back. "Sonic's such an idiot."

"You think?" Rouge asked, turning her eyes to him.

"Of course he is. He always just rushes off and plays the hero. And he always makes _me_ come and bail him out."

Rouge's ears perked up at this, and she let her now free hand move to his back, massaging him gently, trying to alleviate some of the pain. "Hmm... you're jealous of him, aren't you?"

Knuckles' jaw dropped. "What! No, of course I'm not!" he exploded. "Why would I be?"

"Calm down, sweetie," Rouge said, though now she knew it was true. "I was just asking. But really... you have no need to be jealous of that hedgehog. I'm certainly not. He thinks that he's free, but he's tied down more than he thinks."

"Tied down," Knuckles muttered ruefully, but settled back down, succumbing to Rouge's amazing massage. For a second he wondered where she'd learned that... "I wouldn't know about that."

"Don't be jealous," Rouge repeated and leaned forward to kiss him deeply. As Knuckles felt her smooth lips caressing his, he instantly forgot all of his pain.

"So," a deeper smirk carved over her face as Rouge pulled from the kiss. "Where _else_ are you injured?"

Blushing deeper, but hating himself for that, he merely muttered, "That's it, I'm fine now." Bringing himself back up to full height, Knuckles eyed the bat. _Just say it, you idiot._ "Hey, uh... thanks."

She smiled and winked. "Any time, Knuckie. We are together now, remember."

Together. Knuckles allowed himself to smile at her, but before he could say more his wrist comm buzzed. Yes, news from Tails!

"Knuckles!" the foxes face filled the small monitor.

"Tails, what is it?"

"We don't have much time. Get everyone ready, we have to go save Sonic!"

"But what about -"

"The Metal Sonics?" Tails interrupted, a smile appearing. "Knuckles, there are no Metal Sonics. Or, at least, there's only one."

"Whaddya mean only one?" Knuckles demanded loudly.

"I mean the rest of them are holograms."

Shocked silence.

"You're joking, right?" Rouge asked him over Knuckles' shoulder.

"Nope," Tails snickered.

"Holograms?" Knuckles echoed.

"Yeah, it appears that there's only one real Metal Sonic, and the others are just fakes; an army of holograms sent to trick us."

"We were fooled by freaking _holograms_?"

"I suppose that's better than there actually being hundreds of Metal Sonics, right?" Tails said with a small smile.

"EGGMAN!" Knuckles roared.

Tails took on a more serious tone. "Well, there's no time to waste now. You guys have to get everyone ready over there, okay? We need to free Sonic from the base."

"Sure thing, sugar," Rouge said and closed the wrist comm for and angry Knuckles.

Leaving the bathroom, Knuckles and Rouge filed out to filll their friends in on the news.

"Guys -" Knuckles began, but Cream interrupted him.

"Amy's gone!" the little rabbit wailed.

"_Gone_?" Knuckles echoed, wondering what else could go wrong right now.

Cream nodded vigorously. "I - I opened the door to her room to check on her, and she - wasn't there!" she started crying, only to be hugged and soothed by Vanilla.

"What could have happened?" Charmy asked.

"There's no other explanation besides that she was kidnapped again," Vector deduced. "A Metal Sonic must have come back by and -"

"Don't you think we would have heard it? And Amy screaming?" Charmy pointed out.

"Well, what else could it be?" Vector snapped at the bee.

"She snuck out," Rouge figured, not at all surprised.

Ah.

"That little… sneak..." Knuckles shook his head. "She's crazier than Sonic."

"Either way," Rouge said, "I think it's time we payed ol Eggy a little visit."

...xxx...

**Heh... I hoped you all liked my plot twist! Holograms... who would've thunk? He he he... :D**


	12. Captivated

**ultimateCCC, Mike Prower the Fox, enustikehtelckaJ (to return the favor), It'sStephanyx3, Alyssacookie, Mana the Cat Magician, SherryBlossom, GalexiatheChao, poka, 01sonamy01, IHeartSonAmy, bk00, cheese15624: Dang that was a lot of reviews. Thanks guys! :D **

**So... apparently some of you had a problem with how the guys could really get hurt, since they were only battling holograms. Well... truth is, there's really only one Metal Sonic. The others are holograms. If you go back and reread chapter 10 and the battle, you'll see that I tried to make it seem like the robots weren't doing any damage and just avoiding the attacks from Sonic, Knuckles, etc. See, Sonic kept getting hit in the back, as the holograms distracted him from the real thing, so the only real Metal Sonic could attack from behind. Plus they were faster than Sonic because, being just images, they move at the speed of light, and Sonic can't quite go THAT fast.**

**Eh... apparently I didn't pull that off too well, but that was my intent. It was a weird battle scene to write. So yes, one Metal Sonic did all that damage, but that's feasible, if it really can move as fast as Sonic, it could do that. (And okay, just as a joke... _will the real Metal Sonic please stand up_... ugh, so corny, but I couldn't resist...)  
**

**And for those of you that think Amy was too... childish in going after Sonic alone... honestly, what else would she do in that situation? If Sonic really was captured and in trouble... I honestly think she would go after him, by herself if she had to . This is evident to me, but whatever. **

**Now, I've added enough notes, but just felt like I had to explain myself a little. :D And no, I wasn't upset at your questions, I'm glad people are actually reading and thinking about my stories. :D**

**So... without further ado, if you guys aren't about to kill me, here's chapter 12...**

...xxx...

Chapter 12: Captiv-ated

...xxx...

Sonic had to wince as the only greeting his lime green eyes were welcomed with upon opening was a blinding light overwhelming his senses. Blinking and groaning, the hedgehog tried to remember what in the world had happened, but his head was aching, preventing him from thinking too much. The only thing he could process was that he was terribly sore all over his body, and was lying on his stomach. Where was he anyway? It was too painful to open his eyes at the moment and look around.

Keeping his eyes squeezed shut, Sonic used his hands to try and lift himself back to an upright position, but his legs were too weak for him to climb to anything but his knees. But that posture was too uncomfortable, so he fell back on his bottom, letting his legs stretch out in front of him.

His vision was clearing up a little as he blinked away the tears formed in the corner of his eyes. Why was it so bright in here? Where was here, anyway? Sonic squinted as he tried to make out objects around him. It was all so vague, so hazy... Barely, he could make out the fuzzy outline of vertical, metal bars right in front of him. A cage.

Oh no, not this! His instincts immediately kicked in, warning him to run, to _get out of here. _

Without further thought, he curled himself into his spin dash and aimed for the bars on the cage, but a ravaging pain shocked him upon impact with the bars. Sonic jumped back in horror, now almost crying from the pain. The bars must have been lined with an electric charge of some kind. Which meant he was stuck in here.

_Well, at least I'm not dead.__ Although I might be if I have to stay in this cage much longer._

Sonic sighed and sat back down. His vision was now crystal clear again, and he did a once over of his body. His skinny legs were matted with dried blood, his chest and arms were covered in bruises, and a long but shallow cut ran over his abs. The cut on his arm he'd gotten from an earlier fight had been reopened, and had bled under the bandage.

Quite suddenly, the events came back to him in a powerful flash: The Metal Sonic army. His friends all scared. The strange battle. Amy kidnapped. Stepping forward. And the look in Amy's eyes when he gave himself up.

Sonic winced at that last image. _I_ _hope she can forgive me for this.  
_

Honestly, Sonic would chalk this one up to his impulsiveness. It had been the only thing he could think of at the time to save Amy. If he hadn't, she'd be the one here. And Sonic figured he'd be the one with the better chance of getting out of this mess, anyway. Way better than Amy could. Besides, who knew what Eggman would do to her? He couldn't let the Metal Sonics hurt his friends or his Amy any more than they had.

But that was the only thinking he'd done. He hadn't thought about what Eggman would actually do to him. Apparently nothing. Yet. Or maybe he already had. Hmph.

Feeling a bit stronger now, Sonic stretched out his sore legs and lifted himself back to his feet. He hated to be cooped up like this. There had to be some way out of this situation. The cage was way too small for someone like Sonic, especially since he couldn't touch the bars. He started pacing but found he could only get two paces in. He sighed loudly, frustrated. Eggman didn't have to do anything else to him. This was torture enough.

_Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Espio, Rouge… you guys can show up anytime_ now.

It then occurred to Sonic that he didn't have any idea how long he'd been out for. It could have been days since that battle.

_But they would have shown up by now, right? _

Then again, the Metal Sonics were probably keeping them back. They must be trying to find a way around them. It was strange: how had Eggman made so many of them? It seemed impossible. How would they ever be able to beat that many? Sonic had his hands full with just one Metal Sonic. He hoped his friends were figuring that out now.

A whooshing sound of the door opening brought Sonic back to the present. He immediately glanced toward the door, expecting to hear Eggman gloating and dancing. Whatever; the doctor wasn't going to win this time. Upon seeing just who had entered, though, his eyes grew wide.

What... was he dreaming? Had Eggman killed him and he'd gone to heaven?

_"AMY?"_

"Shush!" the pink hedgehog whispered and brought a finger to her lips.

Sonic could only gape and hiss, "how did _you_ get in here?"

A perfect smile lit up her lovely face. "Oh, it's no big deal. The Metal Sonics are just holograms. Eggman tricked us."

She was kidding. "Are you _serious_?"

"Yeah," Amy said, wincing as she inspected his blood stained fur.

Sonic frowned. "Holograms? We were fighting _holograms_?"

"Sh!" Amy reminded him, but had to giggle at his outburst, in spite of the pain he was obviously in.

Sonic let out a breath. "Well, that's a relief. So where are the others?"

"Oh, they're not here yet," Amy said casually.

"You came _alone_?" Sonic was astonished.

"Shush!" she hissed and looked around desperately, knowing Eggman would find them soon. "I need to get you out of here. You're okay, right?"

But the blue hedgehog was still in awe. "Yeah, I'm fine, but Amy... you took on the whole Metal Sonic army…by _yourself_?"

Amy turned back to him and smirked. "Well, _yeah_. I wasn't about to wait for Tails to figure out the age of the universe. I just _had_ to save you. And besides, once I got past the holograms, Eggman didn't have any other security bots posted, so I was able to get in here easily enough."

Sonic was entirely speechless. How incredibly... _brave_ of her. For a minute he pictured a determined Amy, not caring what the others did, leaving to save him by herself, taking on the whole army if she had to. It was almost something that he would do! Sonic chuckled at the thought.

As he studied her, still mightily impressed, he had a thought. This really was the same little girl who followed him around everywhere, even when he was in terrible danger. And then Sonic knew. He knew that he could always count on her to be there for him. Through thick and thin. No matter what. Because she was by far, the most amazing girl he'd ever met.

Suddenly all Sonic wanted to do at that point was just _hold_ Amy in his arms and never let her go again, lest something happened to her. He just wanted to hug her, kiss her, thank her... Amy was so delicate yet so fearless.

He loved her.

_"Amy…"_ Sonic wanted to tell her what he was thinking, but honestly he didn't think there were words for it. And there really wasn't time. But whenever he got out of this ordeal of a prison, he'd let her know just that.

In response to her name, Amy smiled at her boyfriend so sweetly that Sonic's heart was about to burst from tenderness.

"I.. I thought I told you to stay _home_," he said and smiled in a way that let her know he was kidding.

Amy's sweet smile turned into a smirk as she tilted her head saucily. "Well, then this is the last time I save _you_."

Sonic grinned. "Trust me, Ames, this is the last time I'm gonna need savin'."

Amy's response was cut off by the whooshing sound of the door opening. Sonic gasped, but he was helpless. Frantically looking around, Amy dove under a computer desk, hopefully out of sight.

"Ho ho ho ho ho ho! Finally awake, I see," a way too giddy Eggman cackled.

There was an unusual spring in the doctor's step as he made his fat way up to stand in front of Sonic's cage. His dark blue glasses flashed in victory.

Sonic lifted his eyes to meet Eggman's gaze, but looked at Amy through his peripheral vision. All he wanted was for her to be safe and for them to get out of here. He really didn't want to deal with Eggman right now. What a drag.

"So you're giving into my side now? How very kind of you."

Sonic crossed his arms in defiance. "I'm _never _joining you!"

Eggman raised his eyebrows. "Oh Sonic, I do believe you're forgetting something." He leaned forward as if he was about to tell a secret, but then said, "You're not free anymore, Sonic. You're my prisoner. You're terribly injured. And I have hundreds of Metal Sonics at my disposal that at the push of a button can harm your friends. Even your precious, pathetic little_ girlfriend._ So don't be deluded: you're at my mercy. If I were you, I'd do everything that I say."

_Except that you don't have hundreds of Metal Sonics_. Should he tell him he knew? Why kill what Eggman thought was leverage? Sonic merely glared at the doctor, not giving in an inch. "You think I'm scared of you? Ha."

Eggman crossed his arms. "Oh, obstinate, are we? Well, I'll have to resort to _other_ modes of persuading you, then."

Sonic heard Amy gasp, but shot back, "Do your worst!"

His worst. Now this would be fun. "Heh heh - "

"DOCTOR EGGMAN!" Decoe and Bocoe suddenly ran into the room, breaking his evil thoughts.

"ARGH! You fools! Can't you see I'm busy here?" Eggman yelled at them.

"But doctor! We have intruders!"

"What?" Eggman turned pale, knowing this couldn't be good. Had they somehow manged to find out his secret? To save power, he'd turned off all of his other security measures... "Well, sick the Metal Sonic's on them!"

"But…" Decoe said forlornly. He looked at Sonic, then back at the doctor. "We... _can't_."

Sonic couldn't help but chuckle. "Your façade is over, Eggman."

"OH, you're still in a cage so I wouldn't be laughing!"

"Nah, not for long." Sonic said, grinning. "My friends should be here any minute. It's awfully easy to walk through a _hologram."_

Eggman turned even paler, before steeling his expression and shaking his head. "No. You're not going to win this time, Sonic. You're an even bigger fool than I thought if you gave yourself up when you knew they were holograms."

Eggman started heading for the computer where Amy was. Sonic freaked out, but he was helpless.

At the sight of two black boots coming in her direction, panic flooded Amy's system. Oh jeez, he was heading right for her! Not bothering to think, Amy jumped out from under the computer desk and desperately swung her hammer. Eggman didn't have time to react, and her hammer hit him square in the chest, flinging him to the other side of the room. Decoe and Bocoe both yelled and took off to get the real Metal.

"YOU? What are _you_ doing here?" Eggman demanded whilst in flight.

"This is for hurting my Sonic!" Amy yelled jumped to hit him again, sending him back to the other side.

"This is for tricking us!" She whacked him again, but this time he ended up in the hallway.

"OW!" the doctor yelled. He got up to call for the robots but when he looked up, a gasp stuck in his throat.

Right in front of him were Knuckles, Rouge, Tails, and Espio, various smirks and glares on their faces. Eggman glanced behind him, but there was Amy with her hammer. He started sweating nervously.

"Tails, get Sonic!" Amy said to the fox, pointing to the room. "He's in a cage in there but I can't open it."

"Gotcha," Tails said, and headed for the door to free the hedgehog.

Eggman kept looking at the 4 team members surrounding him.

"Now, now, let's not get all _excited_, hmm? It was all just a big misunderstanding, right?"

They all growled at him, letting him know that they certainly were not amused.

Eggman was about to call on the real Metal, but he jetted by unprompted, knocking over Rouge in the process.

"Rouge, you okay?" Knuckles asked as he picked her up. The bat groaned in his arms, sending Knuckles' temper flaring. That robot was toast now.

Upon seeing the real Metal Sonic, Amy screamed and rushed back into Sonic's room, knowing he would be the only one to save all of them. "Tails hurry up! There's a real Metal Sonic here!"

"I'm trying!" Tails yelled. He was working frantically at one of the computers, typing in commands and trying to hack into the security.

The door burst open, courtesy of Metal.

"TAILS!" Sonic hurried at seeing his faker. He was absolutely _ready_ to be free of this cage.

"I'm going!"

Metal rushed right towards the fox, hoping to distract him. Amy was closer, however, and swung her hammer at the robot, forcing it to change direction and bounce off the walls. Knuckles, Rouge, and Espio then entered.

"We gotta distract it!" Amy said desperately, and the others steeled themselves.

However, Metal stood still in the middle of the room, unfazed, and suddenly something that sounded eerily like laughter emerged.

"Do you_ think_ you can defeat me?" Metal said.

"Whoa, it can talk?" Sonic asked from inside the cage, incredulous.

His cold red eyes glared at his rival. "Yes, I can do much more than that, Sonic. Now I suggest you close your eyes while I tear your friends to shreds."

Anger seeping his body, Sonic clenched his fists. He glared at Tails impatiently, hating to feel trapped. The fox was looking at him. What? Had he gotten rid of the electric charge? It didn't matter, Sonic was done waiting. Sonic launched himself into his spin dash and grinned as he easily broke through the bars. _Thanks, Tails_.

Knowing that ultimately, this was his battle, Sonic headed out of the room and the base in general, hoping Metal would follow him away from his friends. Before he had gotten too far, Sonic heard Amy call his name, but he couldn't let that stop him. _Don't worry, Amy. I got this faker._

He came to a halt among a series of hills to catch his breath and work out a strategy, but quickly had to halt as Metal was on him in a flash. Sonic quickly jumped out of the way, and had to go on the defensive for a few minutes as the robot was endlessly attacking him. Feeling the strength fading from his already sore legs, Sonic knew he'd have to finish this soon. Turning on a dime, Sonic reversed direction and hit the robot head on. The powerful collision knocked both of them back, and Sonic skidded painfully across the ground. He didn't allow himself to stop, and quickly got oriented to keep fighting.

It was much like fighting the holograms had been, except he could focus his attention on just one target. But unfortunately, this time Metal wasn't holding back an inch. And Sonic's injuries were really catching up with still, he kept on, dodging the robot's attacks with lightening quickness, and managing to make a few of his own dents in the steel. Still, his reflexes and strength were being tested to their limits. It didn't help that he was already hurt.

As the two faced off, head to head, both pushing with all their might, Sonic felt himself fading. Metal felt no fatigue, Metal wasn't injured... _but those are just excuses, you can't lose, Sonic! You just can't..._

In a surge of energy he must have been saving_, _Metal threw the real hedgehog backwards_. _Once again, Sonic skidded across the ground, on his back this time, but feeling something that was lodged in his back quills loosen up reminded him. But before he could reach back there, Metal had him pinned to the ground, his hand clamped around his throat.

"Foolish, weak creature," Metal hissed at the real hedgehog as he stood above him, ready to go for the kill. "Giving up your heart, succumbing to love." His grip on Sonic tightened, but he merely grunted and kept reaching for his back quills, trying to get his Chaos Emeralds out. They would heal and let him be able to overpower the robot. "You should know that love is weakness, makes you less than what you are. You see where it's gotten you?"

"You - think - I - care," Sonic grunted, trying to give himself more time. He had managed to get to the very tip of his right back quill...

Metal Sonic paused. "Of course, hate is the way to power, because it will allow nothing to get in it's way, nothing to distract it. Hate will not let itself stoop, the way you so pathetically have. Hatred is power."

Hmph. It was now getting very difficult to breathe, to move, as Metal was squeezing his throat something fierce. Still, he couldn't give up... just a few more inches up his back... he could feel his fur bending in protest of his fingers... in a last shaking effort, Sonic finally reached into his storage, the tips of his fingers brushing the Emeralds...

All it took was that one tiny bit of contact, and the power rushed through Sonic's body, creating a blinding light of energy. He sent a clenched fist right at the robot's face, and the swing sent the robot flying off of him. Sonic took one deep breath, but was instantly healed by his Emeralds, all of his cuts fading into his skin and his soreness disappearing as he stood upright again.

"You're wrong, Metal," Sonic said cockily, a grin lighting up his face as he clenched both gloved fists around the blue and red gems. "Because the Chaos Emeralds are powered by the _heart._ And while mine if full of love,_ you_ don't have one._"_

Sonic then concentrated on thoughts of his friends and his Amy, letting the Chaos Emeralds have their fuel and do their thing. His spin dash fueled by Chaos energy, Sonic cut right through Metal's steel, splitting the robot right in half and turning it into scrap, making a quick end of his faker. The robot's broken body fizzled, and bolts of electricity sparked off before finally fading. Glad he'd finally made an end of Metal, Sonic allowed his eyes to drift into the night, eager to make sure everyone had gotten out of the base safely...

His friends, who all had been watching from a distance, all cheered and came up to meet him.

"Alright, Sonic!" Tails yelled enthusiastically.

"Good going, man," Knuckles said with a small smile, one of his hands subtly wrapped around Rouge's.

"Sonic!" Amy yelled as she ran towards him, her arms open and ready to crush her lover and hero into a loving glomp.

But the hedgehog merely held up a hand, signaling her to wait. "Hold on, Amy."

Amy's eyes got so big that Sonic's heart broke. But he knew he had to do this first. He turned to the rest of the team and glared at them.

"You all should be ashamed of yourselves," Sonic said with narrowed eyes. "How dare you all make Amy go in _by herself._"

_"What?_" Knuckles yelled. "We all agreed to wait for more info and _she_ rushed in!"

Sonic shrugged and closed his eyes. "It was brave. Amy puts you all to shame."

Amy was just glowing at his praise, a smile as wide as the sky on her face. _"Sonic.."_ she giggled.

"Brave? It was _stupid_," Knuckles grunted.

"It doesn't matter now," Amy said happily, and wanting to hold Sonic like nothing else she'd ever wanted. "Everyone's safe, right?"

Sonic shrugged again, but opened his eyes this time. "She's right." Then he turned to his girl, opened his arms, and smiled invitingly. Amy then ran the remaining distance and smothered him in a hug. Sonic hugged her back, laughing and enjoying her embrace.

"You're going soft!" Knuckles growled.

"Well," Rouge said to him, her eyes sparkling dangerously. "Maybe _you_ need to soften up, Knuckie." She then pulled him into a kiss.

"Oh Sonic I was_ so_ worried about you!" Amy said as she ran her fingers through his quills.

"Don't worry about me." Sonic said, rubbing her back.

Amy released Sonic and stared into his loving, shiny green eyes, relieved that everything had turned out for the best. A grin was playing at Sonic's lips before he puckered up and placed them on Amy's. The girl pulled Sonic closer to her, wanting him deeper into her lips.

When Sonic pulled back, he whispered, "I'll be alright as long as I have you, Amy. Have I ever told you just how amazing you truly are? It took a lot of guts to take on the army. You're amazing."

Amy smiled and cuddled closer to her Sonic. He was so warm and strong, and pretty awesome himself. Sonic rubbed his hands gently along her back, soothing her.

"You're the one who's amazing," she said, "You're the one that just beat Metal, who just offered yourself for me, when Eggman coulda killed you for that. That was so _heroic _Sonic."

Sonic grinned. "All in a day's work, Ames. Now… where were we before Eggman interrupted again?" Sonic asked, then stopped to think. "Oh yeah," he said then turned his head to pull Amy into a very passionate and deep kiss.

...xxx...

**The End. **

**Yay! I'm so happy with my additions to this story! It's mostly the same thing, same plot, same destination, but there's obviously more to it now. I'm pleased with this story, and glad I could finally do all of my ideas justice. The ending isn't really all that wowing, but hey, it's about the journey, not the destination for this one. :D  
**

**As for what I'm writing next, as always, check my profile. My ideas change daily. ;)  
**

**Thank you all for reading or rereading this! You guys inspire me to do my best. **


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